Legend of a Dragon
by Ruling Dragon
Summary: When a Sky Yoshi makes a stunning discovery, life is altered, and it could be up to him to save Plit from utter destruction. But an evil lord with a knack for torture may have other plans. R&R please! My first fanfic.
1. PrePrologue

**Author's Note:** I do not own any Nintendo characters mentioned, nor do I own the character Soshi. He was created by Chef Torte.

_Pre-Prologue_

It was a peaceful day on Barrel Isle. A simple village existed here. At the base of a dormant volcano. All was calm. Ships  
of all sizes imported and exported all kinds of goods. Winds were light, and it was a wonderful August day.

After lunch, one of the Toads living on Barrel Isle went out to play. However, he spotted a speck floating on the horizon. The speck got larger. And larger. The Toad could make out what appeared to be a dark blue Yoshi. However, it was flying! Indeed, the Yoshi was flying on majestic, yet draconic, wings. What's more, it was headed straight for Barrel Isle!

Dark clouds filled the sky. Everyone was puzzled as to what was going on. Suddenly, the Yoshi stopped and hovered above their village. Al was still for a moment. Noone dared move or even breathe. Suddenly, the Yoshi took a deep breath and spewed out a large, purple fireball! It roasted a nearby house, and the fire quickly spread. Chaos ensued as the Yoshi began its rampage across the island, burning and crushing everything in sight. As a bonus, the thought-to-be-dormant volcano erupted violently. The villagers screamed and docked boats as quickly as possible. They abandoned Barrel Isle, never to return. It was no longer safe.

However, the Yoshi also had to seek shelter from the magma flow. It found a crevice on the side of the volcano and decided to make that its home. There it rested, patrolling the island in seclusion, perhaps forever.

The abandoned Island was renamed Isle Soshi, after the dragon that attacked it. The island never dissapeared from anyone's memory, and all who were at Barrel Isle tremble at the mention of the beast's name.

This is his story.


	2. Soshi's Requiem

_Prologue: Soshi's Requiem _

Soshi opened his eyes and yawned. His long tongue stretched out of his mouth, then curling backward to it's home. He shook his head of sleepiness and looked around. He was inside his cave of Isle Soshi, it felt nice and warm due to the volcano's heat. The blue dragon stood up on his clawed feet and folded back his wings. When Soshi looked out of the cave's entrance, he surveyed the volcano's edge. He spied a second figure at the volcano's top. It was also a Yoshi, with red skin, yellow spikes, and draconic wings. Soshi recognized the being as Soshu, his father. Soshi took to the sky and flew up to his father. He was about to say something but was stopped by his father's voice.

"Soshi... my child."

Soshi looked at his father, he did not turn when he spoke. His red tail flicked about, showing he was nervous.

"I have many things to tell you. Are you prepared to listen?" Soshu asked. 

Soshi nodded in response, forgetting his father wasn't looking back at him. Before he could say yes, his father continued. 

"Eons ago, before the time of the Mushroomers and the Koopa, before the time of the Kingdoms, when Plit was merely ripening..."

Soshu paused. Soshi was confused at why he was being told this, and why his father was acting so strangely. 

"... The supreme species of the planet. It was the Yoshis. Long ago when Sky and Land Yo'sters got along peacefully. It was harmonious time when the planet's land was formed into a giant mass in the center of the sea. All refer to this as Panjeya, Plitian for "beginning"."

Soshi had heard this tale before. Why was he being told this again?

"Yes my child. I am aware you have heard this story. But I will tell you more now, heed my words."

Soshi nodded again, knowing his father wouldn't see. He paid close attention now.

"Though times were harmonious, those who were wise knew of the oncoming time of war. Something had caused a rift in the peace. Soon dragons and dinosaurs were enemies. The Land Yoshis had great numbers in their forces, but we were masters of the sky. This terrible war lasted centuries. When it was finally over, both sides had lost. So few numbers were left. During the war Panjeya had broken apart, and the land formations of today were slowly shaping. The Koopas and Mushroomers started their species' journey. Now after so very many years, I have this to tell you. Soshi, you are the last Sky Yoshi." 

Soshi's eyes widened at the sound of these words. He had never seen other dragons like him before, but he never thought that was because he was the last. But... his father remained...

"Soshi, my time has come. You are the last. Your destiny ahead is very hard to see, but if you follow your heart where it leads you, the path will become clear."

Soshi finally spoke. "What you mean follow Soshi heart?"

Soshu sighed and held his head down. "I... I can't be sure my son."

Suddenly Soshu's wings unfolded and started twitching about. This usually meant something negative. A red claw moved onto the dragon's chest, over his heart. He closed his eyes and his breathing became longer, slower, and more labored. Soshi clenched his fists tightly, slightly digging his own claws into his palms. Then a chill fell down Soshi's spine when he witnessed his father collapse to the ground. Soshi bolted to his side, lifting him and placing his head in his lap. Soshi looked down at his father's face. His eyes were still closed, and he was still breathing heavily.

"Father! What's happening to you?" Soshi cried.

Soshu forced a chuckle. "I told you, that you were the last... my son."

Soshi thought for a moment, then looked angry as moisture was visibly gathering in his eyes. "No, father you can't! I'm not ready..."

"Please forgive me Soshi, if I had the strength, I would never have let this happen to you..." Soshu paused. He spoke again and opened his eyes. "Your mother, Soshi..."

"What? My... mother?"

"Yes. I must tell you the… truth..." Soshu closed his eyes again and coughed. "She... she..."

Soshi's face was streaming tears all over it, through all of the nooks and crannies between his scales.

"She was a... a..." Soshu coughed again, this time much more violently. His strong red color was fading to a paler tone. "Soshi, your mother is alive."

"She's alive! But you said..."

"Please don't... I know what I have said... and I was foolish to say it. Find her, and you must know this..." Soshu's breathing had slowed and was nearly inaudible. "She was a..."

Soshu's exhale was his final breath. His son could feel that he was no longer there. He had died. But what was he telling him? Soshi's eyes closed as well and tears ran down his cheeks. He set his father's body down on the ground and fell on his back. Soshi fell into a deep sleep.

Great orange pyros ate away at Soshu's body. His son had decided to burn the body in the volcano, wishing that somehow the spirit of his father would linger in the island watching over him. It was just a simple comforting thought. It was night now, far into the dusk. A single star shining a brilliant white peeked through the cloudy sky. From atop the edge of the volcano, Soshi watched the rest of his father's body be swallowed by the lava. His head turned upward from the red fire to the black sky. A fire inside of Soshi was also burning. It had always existed, but as a few sparks only. Now it was a roaring flame. Soshi couldn't handle the sadness of his father's death, so he morphed the emotion into rage and vengeance. Irrational thoughts of trickery and deceit filled his unstable mind. He fixated on the idea his father was killed. He recalled the story of when his father had fought a Land Yoshi long ago; he was green and much smarter and stronger than any other of his kind. Soshu told his son that the Yoshi had cast some type of curse on him, mortally injuring his very source of life, his dragon heart. Soshi would find this green dinosaur, and destroy his heart as well.


	3. The Journey

_Chapter 1-The Journey_

Soshi was tense. He looked down at his hands and found there were small cuts where he had gripped them. He was still mourning his father's death, but he had calmed down and thought about what his father was telling him.

"Look inside my heart." The Sky Yoshi repeated for the thousandth time. Soshi just couldn't think. His heart hadn't always been his guide. He always focused on his mind. The more he repeated the phrase, the more the image of his father graced his mind, and the more difficult it was to hold back the tears. He turned his head to one side, and slammed his eyes shut, too proud to cry. Then an idea entered the Yoshi's head. He opened his eyes and gasped, realizing something.

He had once heard of Sky Yoshis living on the frozen ground of Proarctica, in the far north. He knew there weren't any left, but there could be clues about his past. Stretching his dark wings, he took flight. It would be a long journey, but Soshi was determined to make it. He gazed one last time at Isle Soshi, before abruptly turning and soaring off towards Proarctica.

The flight was long. Soshi flew for many hours. Soshi thought he had to be over halfway there. However, he felt soreness growing in his wings. Still, he pressed on, fighting the urge to turn back. He glanced down and saw nothing but water whizzing below him. He had to reach Proarctica, Soshi knew it. His wings were losing their stamina, and Soshi slowed down his flight considerably. He fought it more. Soshi tried to find a spot to land, however, none was found. Soshi contemplated stopping at the first land he could find to rest there. A harsh wind blowing in his face confirmed this idea. He had to stop soon.

After one more long hour of flying, at last, Soshi noticed a green shape on the horizon. It wasn't Proarctica, but at least it was land. Soshi used the last of his strength for a burst of speed and landed safely. He folded his tired wings. As he glanced up at the sky, he enjoyed the sunset, watching as the pinks and oranges socialized with the dark blues, not wishing to be dragged into night just yet.

Soshi wished it was dark, however. He enjoyed the stars. Still, he knew he would not get a chance to view them tonight; he needed rest. He curled up with his tail in front of him, breathing out a little fire. He tried to make this strange island as close to Isle Soshi as possible. At last, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, in a pitch-dark room in an equally dark castle, a figure shrouded in black robes hissed. It then laughed. It drew a picture of a Yoshi on paper. Then it added wings. Finally, all of a sudden, the paper burst into flames. The dark figure laughed wholeheartedly.

Soshi woke. He still had his eyes closed, however. Lazily rolling over he opened his eyes halfway. Immediately realizing he was not on Isle Soshi, he sat up, rubbing his eyes. It took him a second to realize where he was, and what he was doing there.

"Proarctica!" Soshi realized, and took off once again. He felt rejuvenated, more so than the previous few days, and knew he was going to get there today. Soshi took no time to explore the island; and wanted to get to the iced land as fast as possible. He flew, basking in the warmth of the sun, savoring his last few hours of it, before he would have to deal with the harsh climate of Proarctica.

Soshi glided through the air, at last the frozen wasteland coming into view. To the common eye, Proarctica looked like nothing more than a huge glacier, but Soshi knew better. He touched down and started sniffing the air. He walked around in a circle for a while. Then, he broke off in a run.

Soshi stopped suddenly. He stomped the ground, and waited. Nothing happened. The entrance was here, he knew it. Why couldn't he get in? A whooshing noise made Soshi whirl around, a little too late to see the person that knocked him out.


	4. Soshi's Discovery

_Chapter 2-Soshi's Discovery_

Soshi came to. He looked around and saw he was in a rather large cave made completely of ice. Soshi exhaled and watched his breath crystallize on a nearby stalagmite. He stood up. This was Proarctica's interior. Soshi was determined not tothink about how he got here, and only wanted answers to his past.

He slowly explored each cave, seemingly unaffected by the cold. He used his sense of smell, and a little instinct to guide him. Of course, one could say he was choosing his paths randomly, but one way or another, Soshi wound up in an enormous cave, three times as big as the others. It was especially cold here; everything was even covered in a thin layer of powdery snow. Soshi now had to cover himself with his wings while he walked. Soshi stepped further into the room. He couldn't quite place it, but there was something almost...sinister about it.

"S-S-Soshi?"

Soshi whirled around at the sound of the voice.

"Huh? Who said that?" he asked, showing no signs of fear.

"Over here." the voice came from a wall on one end of the room. Soshi carefully walked over to the sound. As he did, he noticed multiple ice columns from the floor rising up to the ceiling. They were spaced only a couple inches apart, and it was impossible for Soshi to squeeze through. However, two violet eyes stared at him through the columns.

Soshi gasped and stumbled, losing his balance for a second. He dug his claws into the ice and got it back. He then turned his attention toward the eyes, and gasped again, realizing who it was. He blinked. A pair of eyes blinked back at him. He saw another Yoshi, taller than he, and green. She had gray spikes, and looked like any other Yoshi. However, her tail ended in a spade-shape, much like Soshi's and his father's. The Yoshi looked at him and smiled from behind the frozen columns.

"Soshi, it's been too long."

"Mo...M...Mother." It took a while for Soshi to get the word out.

"Hello, my son." Soshi's mother, Sosha, replied. Tears welled up in her eyes. They instantly crystallized and fell to the floor with a clack.

"Mother, what is this place?" Soshi asked in awe.

Sosha took a long sigh. "This," she said at last, "is the prison hold of the Ice Lord, Koujin."

It finally hit Soshi. It _was_ a prison. And a very high security one at that. Upon closer inspection, Soshi noticed tiny video cameras disguised as chunks of ice. The cells were all open and empty, the prisoners having either escaped, or...Soshi didn't want to think about it. His mother was the only one left. What would happen to her? The same fate as the others?

"Soshi." Sosha said.

Soshi's train of thought was interrupted, and he snapped to attention.

"Soshi, listen to me. There are two things I must tell you. I know you wish to learn more about your past, and for that reason, you must head to Silver Isle, in the Tranquil Sea. I trust you remember where that is."

Soshi nodded. He recalled the stories he had heard from his father about the Tranquil Sea. True to its name, there were no waves, just beautiful, pristine blue water. HE had never heard about Silver Isle, however.

"The second thing I must tell you is that I-" Sosha was cut off by a loud thud. "Oh no! Soshi, you must go, now!"

"Mother, I'm not leaving without you!" Soshi tried to burn away the ice with his fire breath.

"It's no use, Soshi. The Ice is permanent. Only Koujin can control it." Soshi's mother quickly explained.  
The pounding grew louder. "Now GO!" Sosha screamed and pointed to the exit. Soshi took flight, and glided as fast as he could, through the twisting tunnels, not daring to look back, fearing that whatever came for his mother might come for him next. He wound his way around them, making a left at one junction, right at another. How long he was in there, minutes, hours, years, he didn't know. At long last, Soshi came to a dead end, with a beam of light shining overhead. He sharply turned up, and flew out of Proarctica's interior. He looked back at the glacier, thoughts of his mother and father consuming him. He then forced himself to turn to the horizon, and fly towards the Tranquil Sea.


	5. Mysteries

_Chapter 3-Mysteries_

Soshi enjoyed flying over the Sea very much. The calming waters seemed to alleviate his troubles. He was coasting just a couple feet above the water. He felt the cool energy refresh him. He was so relaxed that he almost didn't see Isle Silver cruising fast in front of him. He opened his eyes and swerved hard right just in time to miss a large white building in front of him.

After regaining his bearings, Soshi looked around. All of Isle Silver was covered in, well, silver. Everything from the houses and the port to even the trees and flowers. Everything shone so brightly, Soshi had to shield his eyes for a bit to get adjusted. The only thing that was not silver was the large white building towering over the trees. Soshi guessed that some big shot had to live there. Maybe he could give him some answers.

Soshi decided to give his wings a rest. He folded them on his back and began walking toward the tower. It was even bigger up close. Soshi was about to knock on the door when he heard footsteps coming from the inside. As he waited for whoever it was to come outside, Soshi couldn't help but wonder why a place of this magnitude and importance would have no guards standing out front. Soshi had to brush that notion away as the front door opened.

"Hello. I was told you might arrive."

The man who answered the door was...strange to say the least. He stood a little shorter than Soshi, and was dressed in a purple robe. He wore a rainbow-colored scarf around his neck.

"Uh...who are you?" Soshi asked cautiously.

"Oh." the man chuckled. "Forgive me. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the king of this island, Toukee."

"Too-kee?" Soshi repeated.

"Non! Toukee shouted. "Tou-KAY! It's French!"

"French?" Soshi had never heard of such a country on Plit before.

Toukee gave up. "Never mind. Please come in. I have much to tell you.

One castle tour and half an hour later, Soshi and the king were in a small, pentagon-shaped room. From what he had seen of the castle and island so far, he presumed that the people really liked silver. When he questioned the king about this, he simply replied,

"Oh, no. It's just the cheapest thing we can find!"

Soshi didn't question him any further after that. Now however, Toukee was dead serious.

He took a deep breath. "Soshi, you wish to know more about your past, is that correct? About how the Sky Yoshis came about?"

Soshi nodded.

"Then I shall tell you, but you might not like what you are about to hear." Toukee took another deep breath before plunging into his tale. "Long ago, when Panjeya was still one piece, there was an evil scientist, Koujore. Koujore had an evil pet Yoshi. It always followed him around wherever he went. Then, one day, a stray ray of electricity struck the dinosaur, carrying such a powerful shock that it actually changed the Yoshi's DNA and it sprouted wings as a result. It also grew enraged for some unknown reason. It rampaged across the world, destroying anything in its path, and from the fire, more dragons surfaced. The beast eventually collapsed in exhaustion and died, but not before thousands of dragons had been spawned." Toukee paused before continuing. "Many generations passed, and the Sky Yoshis eventually reverted to more humble ways. However, upon learning of the Land Yoshis, they realized they were much different. They felt as if they could never truly be a dinosaur, always a dragon. Over the years, this sadness turned to anger, and the Sky Yoshis unleashed a full assault on the Land Yoshis, the results of which you already know."

Toukee finished. Before Soshi could say anything, the king added, as an afterthought, "Since then, some, precious few however, actually crossbred. The hybrids were part land, part Sky Yoshi. Your mother is one of them."

Soshi sat in stunned silence for a minute. "Wait a second." he said. If-if my mother is a hybrid, then am I really all dragon?"

Toukee chuckled heartily. "Oh, what a silly question! Of course you are. You have wings, the trademark tail. What else could you be?" he laughed again.

Soshi nodded and forced a smile. "I...you're right. I wasn't thinking." Soshi began to hover in the air towards the door. "Well, Soshi won't waste any more of your time. Thank you." Toukee stood up, but Soshi stopped in mid-air. "Wait a minute...Koujore...any relation to Koujin?" Soshi asked. This seemed to provoke a horrified reaction in Toukee. 

"K-Koujin? How do you know of him?" he asked, trembling.

"Well, my mother was caught by him. She's...being held captive in Proarctica." Soshi explained, looking down at the floor.

The king softened. "I'm sorry to hear that. But you must be careful. The Ice Lord is not to be trifled with. Whatever he's planning, we are powerless to stop it. I have tried to build an army here on my island, but the villagers would have nothing of it. I'm afraid all we can do is wait. Hopefully someone, somewhere, is, or will be, making preparations."

_"That should be me."_ Soshi thought to himself. He thanked Toukee again, and started to leave.

He stopped again when he remembered something very, very important. "Do you have any fruit? Soshi starving. Soshi haven't eaten in 2 days." Another hearty laugh from the king.

At last, having eaten his fill of the best fruit he had ever had, Soshi left Toukee and Isle Silver, heading for Proarctica once more. At this point, however, Soshi began to feel suspicious. The Koujin character likely had been keeping an eye on him, if he captured his mother. Soshi also wondered if his father had ben involved in the struggle. So many questions remained. He decided it would be best if he circled Plit entirely, going the opposite direction of Proarctica. He readied himself. It would be a long flight.


	6. Land's Embrace

_Chapter 4-Land's Embrace_

Soshi barely had flown for an hour before he noticed a peculiar island floating in the middle of the Aria Sea. Soshi thought there were no landforms here, much less whole islands. It was shaped rather peculiarly, too. Not quite a circle, for it had two oval-shaped peninsulas at the North end. Soshi then noticed a strange figure walking along the beach. It was green and rather tall. Soshi flew a little closer, being careful not to be spotted by it. As he neared it, he noticed some red spikes on its back, and it wore red shoes.

It was a Land Yoshi, and it appeared to be a well-trained one. Something about this particular one startled Soshi, however. When it turned its head, it revealed four large claw marks, two on each side of his face. His father had the same marks. Soshi gasped as he realized this was the Land Yoshi his father had fought before. Koujin would have to wait. The Yoshi began to run off, probably in response to a call, but Soshi wasn't going to let him escape. He dove down at a breakneck speed, kicking up a cloud of sand in the process. The Yoshi shielded his eyes with his arm. When the sand and dust settled, Soshi was glaring at the Land Yoshi, fists clenched.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm the one who will avenge what you did to my father." Soshi growled, and slashed at the Yoshi's throat. He instantly dodged, and began running in the other direction.

Soshi smirked. _"This dinosaur doesn't seem like the fighting type."_ he thought. Soshi began the hot pursuit of the Yoshi, using his powers of flight to his advantage. His wings turned as hard as iron, and struck the Yoshi in the back, knocking him to the ground. Soshi flew up and hung a U-turn in the air, aiming directly at the Yoshi's head with his claws. Suddenly, the Yoshi stood up and grabbed Soshi by his feet. Soshi stumbled in mid-air, and the Yoshi flung him to the ground.

Soshi shook it off and growled. "So you can fight a little." The Yoshi said nothing. His cheeks puffed up and hesquirt out a burst of acidic juice at Soshi. The dragon dodged, conjuring up a fireball in his own mouth. Tasting the fire, he spewed out the purple flame. The Yoshi appeared to be hit directly, but when the smoke cleared, it was revealed he had curled himself into a ball to avoid the attack. Soshi brought up as much flame as he could. He waited for his foe to lower his guard, then spewed out a flame so large and powerful it propelled him backwards into the air. A small explosion followed the attack.

Descending lightly to the ground, Soshi's breathing was heavy. However, he had a triumphant and malevolent smile on his face. His job was done. As Soshi walked over to deliver the final blow, a green hand shot out of the smoke and choked the dragon.

_"Impossible"_ Soshi thought as he broke free. This Yoshi had more tricks up his sleeve than any he had seen in the past. Soshi then noticed a long red object coming fast at him. He realized too late it was the Yoshi's sticky tongue. Since Yoshis can swallow any object up to twice their size, fitting Soshi into the Yoshi's mouth proved to be no problem. Soshi's foe then conjured up more juice. This time however, Soshi could not escape. His foe swirled the juice inside his mouth, suffocating Soshi. He finally spit him out. Soshi tried to take flight, but his wings were drenched, and useless. He felt exhausted. His combatant gripped his throat tightly, an enraged expression on his face.

_"Father, forgive me."_ Soshi thought just before he blacked out.

Soshi opened his eyes. He was surprised that he even could. He was supposed to be dead. Soshi looked around. He was in a rustic-looking room, sticks and logs making the walls. Something was strangedly comforting about it, though. He climbed up off the bed he was on and looked at it. It was nothing more than a rather large log split in half vertically and covered in leaves.

_"Some handiwork."_ Soshi thought to himself. He tried to fly, but a sharp pain in his wings prevented that. Soshi slumped to the ground in a heap and looked at his wings. They were still dripping with acidic juice from the vile Land Yoshi. He got to his feet and tried to walk around. He felt a shock of pain in his left leg. The battle had worn him out.

The battle! Where was he? Where was the Land Yoshi? Slowly, painfully, Soshi made his way down the flight of stairs in front of him. He saw the same Yoshi cooking something on the stove. It glanced at him, then went back to its cooking without a word. After a long, awkward silence, Soshi spoke up.

"Why did you bring me here?" No reply.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Soshi asked.

"Because." the Land Yoshi stated simply. Soshi waited patiently for it to continue. "Yoshi no like to kill unless necessary."

"Wait a minute...your name's Yoshi?" Soshi asked.

"That right. I brought you here because you seemed to need rest."

Soshi was thrown for a loop by this. Here this Land Yoshi was, him having attacked it. He gets knocked out and the Yoshi not only doesn't kill him, but brings him back to his house! Soshi couldn't understand. Never had he seen anyone so forgiving. However, that still didn't change things. Forgetting his gratitude, Soshi demanded answers.

"You were the one who fought my father, weren't you?"

Yoshi paused in the middle of his cooking and sighed. "That was a long time ago."

"You-" Soshi was interrupted.

"You wish to take revenge on me, right? For fighting your father. If you so wish, then I will not stop you. Kill me if you wish." Yoshi said.

Soshi blinked. The fool. He had practically handed his life to him. He looked at Yoshi to make sure he wasn't pulling any tricks. Yoshi's face was steel. Soshi pulled back his hand, claws glistening. He shot it full speed at Yoshi's neck, aiming for a clean cut...

And stopped inches from it. He couldn't do it. Yoshi grinned.

"Welcome to Yoshi's Island." he said.

Soshi looked up at Yoshi. His arm fell limp. The smile on the green one's face told Soshi that he knew he wasn't going to kill him. Soshi brushed it off.

"Soshi, there's something you don't know. About the battle, with...with your father. Come on, we'll talk outside."

Soshi followed Yoshi out to the front porch. Outside was nothing like Soshi had ever seen. Lush foliage covered every square inch of Yoshi's Island. Even more impressive, fruits of all varieties grew on them. Having spent most of his life on the volcano-dominated Isle Soshi, Soshi had never seen so many different species of plants in his life. Little Yoshi children were running around in their carefree world, and for a brief moment, Soshi wished he could be like them. He stared at his now-dry wings. He was proud of them, that much for certain, but he wondered what it would be like to be an ordinary Land Yoshi.

"Soshi, your father led a group of dragons to Yoshi's Island it a last-ditch attempt to get rid of us, the Land Yoshis. He headed straight for me, as I am their leader. Both of our small armies were crushed, and only we were left to battle, one on one. He was fighting to eliminate me, I was fighting to save both of us. I cut open his chest, then I let him go. His lesson was learned. Was yours?"

Soshi sat in silence for a minute. This _was _the Yoshi that almost killed his father. Why did he let him go? Soshi was too confused to be mad at Yoshi.

"All that doesn't matter now. We must prepare for the coming trials ahead." Yoshi explained.

"You mean..."

"Yes, I do. Koujin will not hide forever. We must prepare our army, and we must be on the same side." Yoshi said.

Soshi nodded. He understood now. "But now I must get to Proarctica. I have some unfinished business there."

"Then go. I will stay here, and hopefully be able to put together an army to stop Koujin." the green dinosaur responded.

Soshi unfurled his dark wings and hovered inches, then feet, then yards above Yoshi's Island. He flew off once again.

_"What exactly is Koujin planning?"_ he thought, as Yoshi's Island dissapeared beneath the horizon.


	7. True Power

_Chapter 5-True Power_

Soshi was reenergized. He didn't even seem to feel the nippy wind as he flew over the last stretched of the Aria Sea. He was, however, aware that he was approaching Proarctica. A slight noise made Soshi look down. To his amazement, there was a small boat heading the same direction, going slightly faster than he. Seizing the oppurtunity to shave some time off his journey, Soshi dove and alighted as softly as he could on the boat's deck.

Then Soshi began to wonder why this boat was here in the first place. Where was it going? Why was it going there? Soshi got the beginnings of a bad feeling. He snuck behind a few crates on deck, and thought he heard a rumbling sound beneath him. Hundreds, maybe thousands of footsteps. Soshi wondered how that was possible, considering the boat was about a twice the size of his small cave on Isle Soshi. He peered around and saw a shark at the helm of the boat. Soshi's first instinct was pirates. He had landed on a pirate ship, or boat. But upon closer inspection, he noticed none of the things adorning the shark that would give any clue it was a pirate. No bandanna, no skull hat, no peg leg, not even an earring. The only thing the shark did have was a long black-on-the-outside, red-on-the-inside cape, and, Soshi noticed, a golden sword resting in his belt.

_"Whatever this boat is doing, he must be in charge." _Soshi thought. Then he questioned why this boat was going to Proarctica. There were no jewels or gold or anything, just a barren frozen wasteland, to his knowledge. The only thing of value was valuable only to him. His mother. He wished to see her again and put a stop to this nightmare. Soshi knew it could only get worse from here.

Suddenly, the boat stopped with a thunk. The shark/pirate thing began to turn around. Soshi started to fly away, but quickly decided it would make too much noise. Out of other options, Soshi hid behind the crates and covered himself with his wings, hoping, praying that it wouldn't come his way.

Soshi heard footsteps. Then a clunk. Then more footsteps. He cringed at the thought of being discovered. The footsteps faded slowly away. Taking a chance, Soshi peeked out the side of the crates. He noticed a trapdoor the shark had opened leading downwards into the bowels of the ship. Slowly, carefully, he walked down the creaky steps into a dimly lit room. There was a table full of sharks, much like the one he had seen. He stood and flattened himself against a wall, trying to listen in on the conversation.

"All right. Then it's settled." one of the sharks said. "We'll infiltrate first thing tomorrow."

"But what if someone finds us?" another asked.

"You buffoon! No one travels out here except for you-know-who." shouted the captain, who proceeded to beat up the second shark. "Now, you all get a good night's rest. Tomorrow the hunt begins."

Soshi quickly scrambled up the steps as he saw some of them get up. What were they talking about? What were they infiltrating? Who was "you-know-who"? Soshi's bad feeling rose again. He tried to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. He needed to get inside Proarctica.

Soshi spread his wings and flew to the top of the glacier. Upon landing, he instantly and instinctively took off again and hovered a few feet above the ice. Proarctica was much colder at night. His claws already had frost on them. Nevertheless, he sucked in his breath and plowed through the ice, never stopping until he reached the frozen labyrinth inside.


	8. Confrontation

_Chapter 6-Confrontation_

Soshi remembered the path to the large, prison-like room. He quickly tore through the tunnels, searching for it. As he was travelling, he noticed a peculiar sight. All of the tunnels were empty. Not a single sould to be found. Soshi felt the slightest bit of discomfort in this deserted place; it was empty, but the tunnels could not have been carved by nature. No. Someone, or something dug them all, even if there was no trace of whatever it was left.

At last, Soshi reached the grand room. It was just as he remembered, cold, ominous, and most of all, lifeless except for his mother, still trapped, fitfully sleeping. He produced an apple and quickly chomped it down to give himself some strength. Then he went to work.

He focused his energy into his claws and wings, turning them stiff and hard as steel. He focused on his target, the icicles of his mother's "cell". The light glistened off his dark wings as he aimed and struck forth with all his might. There was a sound of connection, and a cloud of snow and ice was thrown into the air. Soshi was blinded, but he knew it wasn't enough. Quickly, he conjured up a fireball and spat it at the icicles. This time, an eerie purple glow was visible through the ice. He hoped he had done it. The cloud cleared, and to Soshi's chagrin, the icicles were still there, not a sign of a scratch on them as Soshi's embers died away.

Soshi's mother was wide awake now and looking bewildered and worried.

"Soshi! You should not have come back here!" she hissed.

"I had to, mother. I had to save you." Soshi responded tearfully, and stepped back to try once more.

A very faint freezing gust stopped Soshi just before he unleashed another fireball. He turned around, and lost all sense he had.

Soshi found himself staring at the Ice Lord himself, Koujin. He studied Koujin carefully. Koujin wore all black, and had a red collar that ended in two spikes around his neck. His face was completely hidden, except for two faint yellow eyes Soshi could see glowing. In his hand, he carried a jagged scepter made from an icicle with a deep sapphire gem at the top. In a hilt on his waist, Soshi saw a smooth blade carved out of a chunk of ice, judging by its reflective properties. He was levitating, and Soshi could sense the dark aura in him and around him. He gritted his teeth. This would not be easy.

"I see you have intruded on my palace." Koujin chuckled.

Soshi bared his teeth even more. "I did not expect you to come out of hiding so soon.

Sosha gasped and pretended to be asleep.

Koujin, with one wave of his hand, extended his scepter to twice its usual length and hovered higher into the air. He began shooting blue energy rings at Soshi. He dodged every single one, got a running start, and became airborne himself. He tried a head-on collision course with Koujin, who merely teleported out of the way, leaving nothing more than an illusion. Meanwhile, he reappeared behind Soshi and blasted him with his scepter. Soshi fell to the ground, frozen solid in a block of ice. Koujin landed and chuckled to himself. He began to walk away when he was hit square in the back by a large purple fireball. He gathered up his flaming robes and whirled around; Soshi was not out of the fight yet.

Soshi bared his claws as he swooped down with blinding speed at Kpujin. He raised his scepter just in time to make Soshi's feet scrape it. Koujin jumped in the air, unsheathed his blade and slashed in Soshi's back. Blood oozed out of the wound, but Soshi ignored it as best he could. He was fighting a losing battle, but he didn't care. He spewed out another fireball and missed as Koujin teleported again. This time, Soshi could not find him. From his hiding place in the ceiling, Koujin silently laughed as he fired black orbs from his scepter.

Soshi never saw them coming. They connected and seemed to latch onto him. A long, drawn out, sucking noise was heard as they started draining his energy. Soshi tried to flap them away, but there were too many. They engulfed him, turning his vision completely black, and still more came. Soshi fell to the gorund and still he would not give up. He would continue to thrash until his last breath. He knew it couldn't be the end; not yet.

Suddenly, they all dissapeared. Soshi flipped over just in time to be stabbed in the tail. Pain surged up through his tail up his spine, and it felt very cold, as some blood began to crystallize on the mark. Soshi glared at his adversary and let out a mighty roar which shook the whole palace. Koujin was only affected while it lasted, however and quickly regained his balance and flew toward Soshi even faster than Soshi had. A quick punch and slice to the gut brought Soshi to the ground once more, holding his stomach, and fighting back the tears of pain. Soshi coughed up some blood. He couldn't go on. Koujin was still unscathed and he was a wreck. Still, he had to try.

As he drew in breath for another fireball, Koujin dissapeared yet again. Immediately, Soshi felt a large pain in his left wing, and then, nothing. He looked over and Koujin's sword was embedded in it. It was useless now. He closed his eyes and let the burning flame inside him ignite. He didn't need his wings. He didn't need much of anything. All he needed was his life. Soshi drew in all the energy inside him, and let it loose before Koujin could strike again. The room shone with a brilliant white that Sosha even squinted to see. When it faded, Soshi was nowhere to be found.

Dashing through the ice caves, Soshi didn't dare look back to see if Koujin was chasing him. He carefully climbed up above the caves and into the snow, now picked up by blinding wind. Soshi pulled himself to the top of the glacier and covered his face with one of his hands to see. He struggled to stay standing, as that blinding flash had drained much of his energy. One peculiar thing he noticed was that the strange pirate ship was no longer there. He knew that couldn't be a good sign. There was only one thing he had in mind. He had to go to Toad Town, strange as it may have seemed, warn the people about Koujin and possibly the pirates, somehow convince the princess that something must be done and as much as he hated to admit it, he'd need Yoshi's help, too. Soshi had to put his past behind him.

With great effort, he took flight once again, and headed out in the direction he guessed was the Mushroom Kingdom's capital.


	9. The Meaning of Strength

_Chapter 7-The Meaning of Strength_

A hatch opened up in the darkness. Slowly, a pair of eyes peeked out and darted back and forth. Silently, it hurried out of the hatch, making a beckoning motion toward it. More figures like the first hurried out. The last one slammed it shut, making a rather loud noise.

"Shhhh!" the first hissed. "Do you want to wake…you-know-who?"

"Sorry," the other replied. "Er, with all due respect, Captain Kaller, do you really think he's asleep? I mean he's probably out patrolling the grounds as we speak."

The shark captain grinned, revealing his many sharp teeth. "Well," he said. "That's just a chance we'll 'ave to take, eh?"

The dysfunctional motley crew made their way up the narrow steps. Captain Kaller wuickly brushed away the snow to reveal a secret entrance. A few more minutes of brushing and he had broken an opening big enough for them to crawl in. Captain Kaller looked at his fins. They were normally a straight blue, but their color had faded to pale blue, and the cold stifled his circulation. However, without any more hesitation, he stepped in, his crew of sixteen following close behind. Some whispers, "oohs", and "ahhs" were heard as they traversed the icy cavern that was Proarctica. All preesent, including the Captain, were used to tropical weather, so this was a new, wonderful, and for some, a scary experience.

Soon, however, much of the excitement had died away, leaving curiosity and impatience. One of the sharks at the front of the group asked finally,

"Captain Kaller, what are we looking for?"

"I'll let you know when we find it." The leader snapped.

Suddenly, there was a slight sound, like wind whistling through branches. They were very far into the caves now, so the band of pirates was a little suspicious. They exchanged confused glances with a hint of worry. One of the meeker pirates rushed up behind the Captain.

"Sir, don't you think we should move a little faster?" he asked.

Rapidly, their leader spun around and hoisted the minion up by his collar. "Look, Ankhlos." Even as a whisper, the captain's voice was intimidating. "I don't want ta hear any more 'a your blubberin' You will not make a single sound until we are back on the ship, aye?" Ankhlos nodded, terrified. Captain Kaller threw him along the floor, adding "That goes for all of you, too." Ankhlos slid along the icy floor before crashing into an ice sculpture of an intimidating figure cloaked in a robe. The ice was so expertly crafted, it looked as if the cloak was blowing in the wind. Underneath the hood of the figure, two round eyes seemed to glow eerily. The dazed pirate hurried over to the others quickly, but was too petrified to tell any of them what he saw. Soon, they turned into an extremely cold and dark room. Not a single thing could be seen, and as a result, the seventeen pirates stopped in their tracks.

"Now, listen closely!" the captain's booming voice was heard. "Now, all of you keep walking, and follow my voice!" Murmurs from his crew, but began walking again anyway. "You-know-who cannot hear us in here! I will lead you to a place where an artifact of great power can be found!" The captain's voice moved to the right. "It will bring us one step closer to our goal. Legions of the greatest warriors have fought for it. We will be the first to wield it!" The captains voice led down. "Now…follow my voice exactly to the letter. Straight forward!" Eventually, the sharks could see a faint gleaming light. Murmurs of awe struck them. As they approached closer, they could see the light turn green, and it was coming from a golden staff hung suspended in mid-air. It was shaped like a crescent moon with a huge emerald set between the points.

"This," said the Captain proudly, "is the Essence Emerald. I will need all your help to dislodge it from it's magical resting place."

With all their strength, they pulled. The staff budged. Another pull. More movement.

"One more. All together!" Captain Kaller shouted.

A last burst of strength dislodged the staff, and it fell into Captain Kaller's hands.

"Quickly! We must escape, now!" the Captain shouted.

On these words, Proarctica began shaking. Entire tunnels were collapsing, and everyone was hoping theirs wouldn't be next. The Captain, with one wave of his wand, flooded the entire area in brilliant green light. The crew spred up a ramp, through the twisting tunnels, following the captain wherever he went. Some of the pirates slipped on the icy floor and hurried to catch up, fearing for their life. At last, they came to a dead end. A boulder blocked the path. Someone looked up and noticed another one. On his scream, everyone instinctively looked up. Captain Kaller looked just in time, to jam his new weapon into the rock, crumbling it into smaller pieces.

"Everyone, grab hold of one!" Captain Kaller commanded. Instinctively, all the pirates grabbed a piece of the now-shattered boulder. With another wave of the magical instrument, the rocks began to levitate, and move up through the opening to the cavern. Some were riding them from above. Others hanging on from below. But their leader managed to guide them all back onto the ship. A piece of Proarctica exploded in the distance. After a moment of catching their breath, the pirates saw their leader, a bold smile on his face, brandishing the Essence Emerald.


	10. Foresight

Chapter 8-Foresight 

Swerving left and right, trying to keep his control, Soshi glided jaggedly over the sea. He wasn't even sure which one it was, though he had a gut feeling, an instinct, that it was the way he needed to go. His wing had been slowly getting its feeling back, in the form of excruciating pain. He pressed on, trying to stay on course and not veer off. It was hard, as he had to adjust his direction with every flap of his wings, which alone required much energy.

An object whizzed past his head. Soshi caught just enough of a glimpse of it to see that it was black, and spherical. Another flew at him, and Soshi had to dive to dodge it. Once he had, however, he instantly found he could not pull back up. The blue water was coming in fast on him. He mustered every ounce of his strength to regain control. He gradually leveled his flight, gliding inches above the surface. Now all that was left to do was catch a good updraft…

It never came. Barely making a splash, Soshi skipped along the surface of the water before finally coming to a complete stop some 60 feet from shore. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing heavily. He was still very conscious, just too sore and exhausted to move. All at once, he felt himself being lifted up, and carried. He didn't dare open his eyes. All he knew was that whoever was carrying him was either saving him or sealing his fate.

Soshi felt the atmosphere about him change drastically. From the warm, humid air of the sea came a cold and empty feeling Soshi was certain he didn't like. Soshi felt himself be thrown onto a hard, stony floor. He heard some bones in his spine crack, and flinched. He felt something cold wrap around his hands, and then heard footsteps fading away. When he was sure they were gone, he opened his eyes, and he found he wasn't outside anymore. He didn't even think he was in the Mushroom Kingdom, judging from where he was. He sat up, instinctively. He was in some prison cell. Not the worst he'd ever seen, but then, he haddn't seen many prison cells, let alone been sentenced to one. His small hands were cuffed together by what looked like unbreakable titanium. The conditions in the cell were liveable, but all Soshi wanted to do was get out. As he struggled to his feet a single sandwich slid under the door.

"_Oh, well."_ Soshi thought. He might as well. After all, he didn't think he'd be getting anything else for a long while. He took a bite of the sandwich and instantly gagged. Peanut butter and mayonnaise, who would come up with something like that? He forced it down anyway, and curled up and slept to wait for whatever it was fate had planned for him.

A few hours later, Soshi was awakened by a loud bang. The door to his cell had opened and a figure stood in the door. He was short, but his features were indistinguishable. It was very bright behind the door which cast a shadow over its face.

"Her highness will see you now." It said in a gruff tone.

Soshi was led through the bright corridor into another room, which appeared to be a storage area. Then through another door into a bright, cheery hallway, not like anything he had expected. There were red drapes strung up through the ceiling, and gold borders on all the windows. The doors were all adorned with a star, and there was a huge double door at the top of the staircase Soshi was now in front of. Soshi knew it almost immediately. This was Peach's Castle.

Soshi didn't have much time to bask in the glory of it, as soon after he entered, the double door opened and a perfect vision of beauty, justice and fairness came out. Princess Peach had a frown on her face, however, as she eyed Soshi suspiciously.

"So," she began. "You are the one which terrorized Barrel Isle so long ago. I never thought I'd see you."

Something snapped inside Soshi. How did she know? Toad Town was nowhere near Bar-Isle Soshi, he corrected himself.

"Peach, that was a long time ago. I-"

"Enough!" Peach held her hand out. She obviously didn't want to hear it. "You destroyed the lives of those poor citizens, and you have the nerve to come terrorize the central city, too? It's only a miracle my cannon soldiers were able to stop you. I grow tired of this. Take him away!"

Instantly, two more guards, much bulkier than the first, grabbed the Sky Yoshi's shoulders. Soshi struggled, but it was no use.

"Peach, wait! Don't do this!" Soshi shouted. "The world is in danger! Somebody is plotting something up in Proarctica! He has my mother, and he'll probably kill her and everyone else in the world if you don't listen to me!"

Peach slowly stepped down the stairs and approached Soshi. "First of all, the world is definitely in danger. From you. Second of all, I have personally been to Proarctica, and there is nothing there but a big, boring glacier. Any more lies you wish to tell me?" she challenged.

Soshi made eye contact for one full second, then dropped his head to the ground.

"Please. Just give me one chance. One chance to prove it. I don't mean you or the kingdom any harm, Princess. All I want is to stop this fiend." Soshi said softly.

For some reason, the Princess must have sensed the sincerity in Soshi's voice, for her next order was "Drop him." The guards obeyed. She turned to Soshi again.

"I'm warning you, Sky Yoshi, any tricks, just one…and I personally will make sure you never see another living thing ever again."

Soshi nodded. "My word is my bond, princess. It is a principle I live by."

Peach immedately ordered the finest fleet of ships she had.

"Well, then, Sky Yoshi, I guess we're going to Proarctica."


	11. Proof

_Chapter 9-Proof_

The day was calm and peaceful, seagulls flying overhead, as Soshi watched the sea aboard the _S.S. Riviera,_ Peach's best ship. With it's sleek metal rod-like shape, coupled with its cleverly disguised cannons, missiles and the like, it looked more like in belonged in the air than at sea. It was well built for both speed and protection. Soshi was still handcuffed, and now he was tied to the mast. It was obvious Peach didn't like him one bit. Not at this moment anyway.

Soshi looked over his left shoulder. The wind was caressing her blond hair, amplifying the expression of concern on her face. She was still skeptical about this whole thing. At one point, she started to get up, but then sat back down again, never changing her face, and never breaking her gaze at the horizon. Soshi looked to his right and found one of Peach's guards looking sternly at him, keeping tabs on him. Behind the muscular being, he could make out the others at a small table playing Texas Hold-em.

Soshi sighed and closed his eyes. He questioned why Peach would endanger her own life trying to prove him wrong. Then again, she was royalty, and could do anything she wanted. Soshi looked out to sea and wondered whether Koujin would already prepared something for them.

"Land ho!" someone cried. Soshi looked directly overhead at a Toad in the crow's nest, pointing frantically. Soshi looked and saw it once again. The infernal land that had his mother trapped inside. He didn't want to come back, but he had had no choice. As he was untied, one of the guards brandishing a cutlass began poking Soshi in the back with it, guiding him along.

"Wait." Peach said. "He's our guide. Lead the way, Sky Yoshi." There was a hint of disgust in Peach's voice.

Soshi walked up front and led the crew through the tunnels to the prison hold. This wasn't the way Soshi got it last time, so on a few instances, he had to spread his wings and catch the cold breeze coming from the room. Just as Peach was getting impatient, they entered the massive room. Soshi's first instinct was to look to his left. When he did, he gasped and felt his world was shattered. There, in plain sight, was his mother's cage, or what was left of it. The icicles had been cut clean off, and Sosha was nowhere to be found.

"Well, let's spread out, search for anything suspicious." Peach ordered. After a partial combing of the room, one of the guards pointed to a small rock. Inside was a tiny security camera. He took it out and tried to crush it between his fingers, but it was surprisingly sturdy. He threw it on the ground and proceeded to stomp it, but only slipped and landed in a heap on the ground. Soshi walked up to it, gave it one slash, and it split in two. Ignoring the gawks, he returned to his mothers cage.

"Look for more." Peach said, and walked up to him. "What is so interesting about this spot?" she asked.

Soshi took a deep breath, and blew it out slowly. "This was my mother's cell. This is where Koujin, the Ice Lord trapped her. Now she's gone. He may have killed her." Soshi stopped to suppress his tears. "He may have not. I don't know. But I must stop him."

"So, where is he now?" Peach questioned.

Silence from Soshi told her the answer. Actually, a rumbling sound did. A strong wave of absolutely frigid air swept the room, and when it left, there was a big stalagmite of ice in the center of the room. Immediately, it broke and the most terrifying thing anyone had ever seen flew out. Soshi had seen him before. He wanted to take him down here and now, but knew that was impossible.

Koujin looked down with bloodthirsty eyes. He took out his blue wand and pointed it directly at Soshi.

"Like mother like son." He said and fired a deadly energy wave at Soshi. In his handicapped state, Soshi could do nothing but brace himself. He flinched waiting for impact. It never came. The soldier brandishing the cutlass used its shiny side to deflect the blast back at Koujin for a lucky direct hit. In the momentary confusion, Peach quickly undid the handcuffs binding Soshi and pointed to one of her guards.

"Alpha T. get everybody out of here!" She pulled out a walkie-talkie. Beta T., Gamma T., prepare the _S.S. Riviera's_ weapons. Koujin rose out of smoke and flew upward again. Peach, her guards and Soshi began running for the exit.

"Delta T-AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Peach screamed and fell flat on the ground, unconscious. Koujin had struck her in the back with the same energy wave he had used against Soshi. Quickly, Soshi picked her up and ran towards the exit. Small explosions came from both sides as Koujin pursued and the _S.S. Riviera_ waiting outside fired.

Koujin was coming ever closer, he was slicing through the guards following Soshi one by one. He was only a few feet behind him now. Soshi at last saw the light, and sprinted for it. The blinding sun fell on his face as he jumped aboard the ship, carrying Peach with him. Two Toads on the upper deck proceeded to fire at the Ice Lord, who for once, wasn't ready. Missiles screamed through the air, and cannonballs fired. A thick cloud of smoke was growing in front of the massive glacier.

"Hold your fire." One of the toads commanded. The weapons stopped, and the smoke began to dissipate. Koujin was gone.

"He'll be back." Soshi said. Right now we must get back to the castle. He looked at the prone Peach lying on the deck of the ship. He knew it was too dangerous. She probably did, too. Why had she not trusted him? Soshi thought the distant past was behind him. He contemplated these thoughts, trying to answer them, the entire voyage back.


	12. Double Race

_Chapter 10-Double Race_

"Do you know what this is?" Captain Kaller asked his men.

"Some magic thingy?" one of the sharks ventured.

Captain Kaller sighed and brought the item down from above his head. They were sailing away from Proarctica, the artifact in tow. Apparently, Kaller was the only one who knew its true power.

"No, it's not just 'some magic thingy'" Kaller said patiently. "The Essence Emerald is one-third of a great treasure that can bring absolute power to anyone who possesses it. With it, no one will dare sail the same seas as us! We will be absolute rulers!"

Murmurs from his crew slightly brought him down. The timid Ankhlos spoke up.

"Um...what exactly do you plan to do with the, er, treasure, Captain?"

A glint in the Captain's eye. "With it, I will become ruler of Plit! No one will dare oppose me! Ever since I got kicked out of the Plitian Special Naval Forces, I've been ridiculed! Mocked! And-"

"Oh, boy, here he goes again." One of the pirates complained.

"Hmm? You dare interrupt me? We'll just find something constructive for you to do, Tailan. I 'ave it. Sweep the entire galleon!

"I just did before we left." Tailan complained.

"Well, do it again!" Kaller commanded.

Tailan left, grumbling something about tyranny.

"Now then, we just have to find the next piece of the treasure."

"And that would be where?" another pirate asked.

Captain Kaller thought for a minute. "I'm not exactly sure. I only knew af one location. And that was in Proarctica. But wherever the treasure pieces may lie, they must be spread out. So, Navigator, chart a course for the geologically farthest place from Proarctica. I can't wait a get my 'ands on the next piece." Kaller almost drooled at the thought as the ship sailed to the southernmost Sea on Plit.

Soshi's last thought before the ship docked onto the shore was where Koujin had taken his mother off to. He seemed exactly the type to kill first, ask questions never, and for this reason, Soshi almost had a nervous breakdown. Peach's guards had to drag him off the ship. The large one obviously believed the whole thing had been a setup. As the princess was brought up to her room in the castle, Soshi was the last to step in.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" asked Toadsworth, glaring at the dragon.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know this would happen. I was only trying to do what I thought was best."

"You liar." the elder Mushroom Retainer scoffed. "Now look at the poor princess! We cannot awaken her! She is doomed to this eternal sleep forever! DOOMED, I TELL YOU! And it is all your fault!" he shouted hysterically.

"It's not my fault!" Soshi protested, backing up as Toadsworth advanced, rage in his eyes. Wait a minute. What was he afraid of? What was this old guy going to do, bean him to death with his cane? Soshi could take that.

"Look, old-timer." He said, strength regaining in his voice. "If there's anything I can do to help her, you just name it."

Toadsworth started to shout something, but composed himself. Still glaring at Soshi, he conceded. "There is one thing. There is an…object, shall we say. Buried somewhere deep inside the Spire Mountain, a craggy volcano in the deep south. Rumor has it that it has amazing powers, whether healing is one of them, I don't know, but go and find it, and bring it back here. Then, and only then will your remorse be notified."

Soshi nodded. "I'll find it." He took off. Gliding through the corridors of the castle, he felt it was just one deviation after another before his final goal was to be reached. He knew he didn't have much time before Koujin attacked again. When the sunbaked air outside touched him, he didn't even notice. There was too much on his mind already.

Meanwhile, Toadsworth turned his attention to the guards. "Now, we must find a way to awaken the princess."

"But what about that scary Sky Yoshi?" One of the Toads asked.

"Don't worry about him." Toadsworth reassured the little guy. "The artifact can only be touched by someone pure of heart. If someone else tries to steal it, they will be destroyed instantly. And as we all know, our "friend" is anything but pure. Now, I want the best medical help possible for the princess, now!"


	13. Plight of a Princess

_Chapter 11-Plight of a Princess_

Bound across the majestic Kryst Ocean, Soshi kept an eye out for anything suspicious. His mind was racing at this point, and wondered how many more detours he'd have to take before anyone even started to listen to him. Too many times, he felt, he had been knocked away, dismissed as noone important and he was sick of it. If things did not improve, he would have to take matters into his own hands. But for the fact that the Princess had the best army Plit had to offer, he had to press on for the time being. Soshi wondered what was keeping Koujin from implementing his plan, however.

As he swept speedily over the water, Soshi took in its wonderful properties. It wasn't quite the Tranquil Sea, but it was the next best thing. Soshi tried to just shed himself of all worries and simply focus on the task at hand. At this he failed because he kept worrying about his mother. He wondered if he would ever see her again. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something move. Slowing down, he looked around. Nothing. Regaining his caution, he resumed his normal flight path, due south. Again, however, something caught his eye. Stopping completely, he began to get nervous.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" He called, hovering in mid-air.

"_Who are you? Show yourself!" _his echo came back to him.

Soshi tried to brush it off. He'd need to conserve his energy if he was to stand a chance at surviving Spire Mountain. He flew on, looking over his shoulder every now and then, but couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him.

-----------------------

"CLEAR!"

BRZAP.

"…It didn't work." One of the Toads said solemnly.

"Now now. Don't fret." Toadsworth reassured, trying to conceal his own anxiety. "I'm sure the doctor has at least a few more tricks up his sleeve."

"But we've been trying to awaken the princess for so long! What if…what if she never wakes up?" worried another loyal Retainer.

The doctor sighed and put away his defibrillator. "Well, I still register a pulse, and she seems to be breathing fine. In any case, I have done all I can. That "blast to the back" as you have described it may not have been that physically devastating, but the shock carried with it could have resulted in the Princess's current state."

"Thank you doctor. We appreciate it. Truly." Toadsworth moved slowly toward the pink figure lying almost motionless on top of the bed. "Princess. What did you do to deserve such horror?"

"Hey, check it out, Toadsworth's talking to himself." a Toad said. He was immediately rapped on the knee by his elder.

Resuming focus to Peach, Toadsworth lamented "It's all that horrible Sky Yoshi's fault isn't it? He got you into this. We will care for you, and when you are well again, we will, what is it you youngsters say, 'take him down', yes." Turning around, Toadsworth gave some orders.

"You are not to leave the Princess's side, do you understand? If she awakens I wish to be notified immediately. That is all." Toadsworth promptly left the room.

-----------------------

Soshi had to rest. It was a farther distance than he had realized. He started to question whether there really was a volcano. He had been questioning a lot of things in his life recently. Ever since his father died. He was really beginning to dread life. Finding no trace of land anywhere, he decided just to land on the water. With slightly less grace than usual, he dipped his body into the ocean. It was no different than any other ocean, but it seemed to have an almost therapeutic effect of Soshi. It calmed him, releasing him of all tension. He lay on his back, letting the late afternoon sun warm his face, and the water cool his back. A few small Cheep Cheeps swam by and Soshi playfully swatted at them. Soshi wished he could be like them. So carefree, only worrying about their next meal and not becoming one themselves. At the thought Soshi became rather famished, and reached into his saddle-sack to see whether there was anything he had left over. A single peach and that was it. Soshi decided it was better than nothing, so he took it out and munched thoughtfully.

One hour and a discarded peach core later, Soshi bumped his head against an outcropping of rocks. Rubbing his skull, Soshi looked up to see a tall red mountain jut up into the sky. It was angled every it could conceivably be angled and yet it still seemed to somehow twist itself upward. Soshi had no idea how such a mountain came to be, but that wasn't important. What was important was to get what he came for and get back to the castle as soon as possible. Flying upwards, wrapping around it, Soshi soon came to the volcano's mouth. Peering into it, Soshi saw exactly what he expected to see, a frothing pool of magma ten feet below the surface. Soshi wondered how he would get in and out alive, but didn't have time to thing as a particularly strong gust of wind came and knocked Soshi off balance sending him tumbling in.

Outside, on the water below, a figure landed and seemed to stand on the water. Although its face was shrouded, a smile broke on its mouth.

"Good luck, Sky Dragon." it said, and dashed off without another word.


	14. At Kaller's Command

_Chapter 12-At Kaller's Command_

"All right men. I have come to a conclusion." Kaller announced.

"And what, pray tell, might that be, Captain?" a pirate asked.

"We still do not know where the next part of the treasure is."

Some of the sharks groaned. Many complaints were shouted at the Captain.

"Calm down now, ah. I 'ave, however, discovered on our radar some peculiar activity in Spire Volcano. Someone is near there, though no one in their right mind would be. We will investigate. Perhaps whoever is there can 'elp us."

"But…why would they want to help us?" Ankhlos asked.

"Well, we'll 'ave ta keep a low profile, tha's all. Now, men! Chart a course for Spire Volcano!"

"Aye aye, Captain!" saluted one of the sharks, and proceeded to get the ship ready for disembarkation.

Slowly, one by one, the fearsome ship slunk away from the icy shore of Proarctica. It pushed off, sailing towards the south. Soon, Proarctica had disappeared below the horizon. Kaller's greedy gaze was directed in the opposite direction, waiting to get his hands on the precious treasure. He would have power and riches, everything he'd always dream of, and he'd be one step closer when that big, beautiful mountain peeked its head out to him. Consumed by his thoughts, Kaller didn't even notice when the ship began to sway and rock a slight bit more than usual. One of his men screaming was the only thing that woke him up.

"Eh? What is it n-?" he was cut off by what he saw. A giant white tentacle had attached itself to his ship! He peered over the edge to see that it snaked around, off the deck, into the cloudy water below, preventing his ship from moving.

"I'll take care of this." he said gruffly, lighting a torch. With one brief strike he hit and burned the tentacle. To his surprise, it did not move. He only heard a muffled roar of pain. All was silent on the ship, no one quite knowing what would happen next.

Suddenly, nine more tentacles rose up out of the water in all directions. Five of them managed to grab some of Captain Kaller's men, dragging them down to their watery deaths. The others began to thrash about, crushing Kaller's ship, and further preventing it from moving.

"We've got to get out of here! Le's go! We 'ave to move!" Kaller ordered, trying to keep his calm during the chaos on the ship. The sound of the planks being torn off one by one was deafening. Captain Kaller was trying to yell and order over it, when at last the monstrous beast showed itself. It was nothing more than a giant head with a black ring around its glaring eyes. A giant Blooper.

"Ye've made a mistake showing yourself!" yelled Kaller, and struck at the Blooper's head with his still-lit torch. The Blooper cried out in pain, but didn't release its hold on Kaller's ship. The shark captain was about to strike again when one of his men stopped him.

"Captain, we've managed to get the turbo motor attached. It's at full power. What are your orders?"

A malevolent smile grew on Captain Kaller's mouth. "Fry this big fish." He said. The minion nodded in understanding and started up the motor. A high pitched whine was heard as it fully powered up. Immediately, a bright yellow flame emitted from the rear of the machine, and the ship tore straight through the Blooper, leaving a huge smoldering hole clean through it. Captain Kaller laughed hysterically as his ship continued to tear through the sea, still on course to Spire Volcano.

Some time afterward, Kaller had stopped the motor and was surveying the damage to his ship. He seemed to mourn the loss of every plank, every nail. Oddly enough, the loss of nine of his crew members did not bother him at all.

"Do you know why" he asked plainly, "I chose this ship for our quest?" Simple shrugs from his remaining minions told him the answer. "The loss of the others does not concern me. You all knew the dangers and so did I. But this ship is a different story. It was used by my father, on 'is very first voyage to the seas. 'E loved it. 'E taught me to love the seas, too. But the true reason," he paused for emphasis. "was that 'e built this ship 'imself."

Murmurs of admiration from his crew erupted. "My father gave this ship to me, and in doing so 'e gave me a part of 'is soul. 'E spent months sailing on it, and 'e always maintained it well. Now, look at it. This ship, is all but unusable now." A pool of water growing on deck reemphasized this. "When we get to Spire Volcano, we shall repair it. With such limited supplies, I don't know how, but we will not abandon it!" The Captain's voice grew, and with it, so did the spirits of the crew. "This ship will carry us to the ultimate treasure!" Cheers erupted from the drained crew. They were confident in their captain and themselves. The Captain took a few minutes to bask in the glory of what he had done. He felt great, quite over the despair of the damage, despite its severity.

As if to drive the point home, a few minutes later, the ship's hull smashed into some rocks off the shore of the volcano.


	15. Hostilities Revealed

_Chapter 13-Hostilities Revealed_

Soshi tumbled headfirst into the volcano. He tried spreading his wings, but the downward drag force was too great. His wings were literally stuck to his sides. As he plunged farther down, he reflected on all the people he had let down. Peach, his father, his mother, and all of Plit. Fractions of a second away from impact, he wondered why he had ever taken this upon himself to solve. The frothing pool of magma was coming in fast, and Soshi was powerless. He could feel the heat radiating onto his face.

"_Wait a minute,"_ he told himself. _"No, I can't." _Soshi plunged into the magma and didn't feel heat, or even warmth. Something wasn't right. This "magma" was actually a viscous, yellow fluid. It reminded Soshi of honey. He opened his mouth and some of the sticky fluid filled it. Soshi spat it out immediately with disgust. No, definitely not honey. As Soshi tried to get the bitter, sticky fluid off his tongue, he tried to keep his wings above it. The honey-like substance would cling to his wings, preventing him from flight. Looking down however, Soshi could see a faint network of tunnels, much like the ones on Proarctica.

"That's strange."Soshi said out loud, and stuck his head in for a closer look. Immediately upon opening his eyes, the fluid seeped in.

"AAAAARRRRRGGHH!" Soshi screamed, frantically pulling the slime away from his eyes. In doing so, he accidentally coughed up a fireball. He continued to do so until he could see again. He noticed immediately that he had created a gap in the slime, which immediately filled itself back up. This gave Soshi an idea. Filling his lungs up with as much oxygen as possible, he spewed his flame straight down, boring a gap through, and quickly fell, landing on the ooze at the bottom. Wasting no time, he coughed up another, just as the tunnel he had made closed up again. Soshi pulled himself through to the air pocket he had made and coughed up another fireball. In this way, he managed to eventually pull himself into one of the tunnels.

Gasping for breath, Soshi collapsed onto the cold, rocky floor, his body drenched with fluid. Wait, cold? This was a volcano. Well, sort of, at any rate. The next thing that entered Soshi's head was why the tunnel had not filled with the same fluid that was on the outside. Soshi reasoned that the only answer was to follow the tunnel. So, bravely, he marched in. Watching the light fade from the opening, Soshi eventually had to feel his way around. He smacked himself into a wall more than a few times. By the end he could swear he had a concussion. But there was time for that later.

"I've got to try to keep focus. Everyone's counting on me." He whispered, lost in the dark. "If only I could-AAAA!" the ground suddenly slipped out from under him, and Soshi's wings were still saturated, so there was nothing he could do. Eventually, he unceremoniously landed in a heap, presumably at the bottom of the volcano, he stood up, his head still reeling, and four dim orange lights came into view. Soshi shook his head and they merged into two. He blinked a few times and they merged again into one.

"_First things first."_ he thought, flapping his wings a little to get them dried off. He continued to do this as he walked toward the light. As it got bigger and brighter, Soshi noticed a shadow blocking part of the light. It was an aged, wizened Koopa, standing facing the light, which Soshi saw was coming from a candle. Even his shell had grayed a little. By his feet was a medium-sized red orb. The Koopa did nothing as Soshi approached. It merely stood there, watching as if mesmerized by the light. Soshi was right up beside the Koopa when it dawned on him: Whoever this Koopa was he was guarding whatever was inside that orb, presumably the artifact he was looking for.

"So." The first word the Koopa spoke made Soshi jump back. The word echoed several times before dissapearing. "You have come all this way. You have braved the volcano. You have proven yourself." Soshi opened his mouth to speak when the Koopa interrupted. "Stop, I know you have questions, and I will answer them. First, this volcano only opens to those with pure motives. To all others, it is a veritable deathtrap, like all others. You may be wondering why anyone would venture in at all. You see, this," he indicated the orb by levitating it inches in front of Soshi. "is a treasure that, in the wrong hands, could forever plunge the world into despair, but in the right hands, can bring peace in times of need. By merely getting this far, you have proven yourself." The candle was snuffed out, and the orb began to glow bright red, illuminating both Soshi's and the Koopa's faces. The orb transformed from a sphere shape to a torch shape. When the blinding light faded a little, it's features were made out. It was a red rod, with a flame shape at the top. And set into the very heart of the flame was the biggest ruby Soshi had ever seen. "This is the Radiant Ruby. It has deemed you worthy." Soshi stepped closer to the powerful wand in awe. As he gripped it, the light completely faded. "Good luck" said the Koopa, giving a smile as he vanished into the darkness.

Soshi felt a familiar feeling around his feet and it slowly surrounded the rest of his body. The fluid was filling the chamber. Soshi couldn't fight it, but realized he didn't have to. It carried him up out of the chamber, into the light, to the top of the volcano. As Soshi grabbed the mouth of the volcano and pulled himself out, he wondered if he had dreamt the whole thing. He looked at his hand. It tightly gripped the Radiant Ruby. No, it hasn't been a dream. Soshi remembered suddenly what he needed to do. He needed to get back to the castle as soon as possible. As he shook off his wings and took flight, a cannonball flew through the air, flying over his head. Soshi looked in the direction it came and saw the same pirate ship he had landed on earlier, only now it seemed to have a bright green shimmer to it.

"Give up the treasure, ya curdled dragon! Or do I 'ave ta blast it out of ya?" Captain Kaller waved one fist at Soshi, who flew in a circle over the ship.

"I don't know what you want, but I never back down from a challenge!" he yelled back, and dove at one of Kaller's crewmates, knocking him into the water.

"Grr. Fire again!" Kaller yelled, another cannonball flying through the sky. Soshi breathed a fireball at this one, but it seemed much stronger than usual. The cannonball exploded into a million pieces, sending red-hot iron raining down on the sharks. Soshi followed it up with a wing attack, right at Kaller's gut. The shark keeled over, obviously in pain.

"That's enough." he wheezed. Kaller then pulled out a mysterious wand that looked like a moon. "Let me show you true power!"

He pointed the wand at Soshi, and a bright green flash of light enveloped the dinosaur. Kaller snickered as he held his stomach, but his grin was wiped away, as Soshi still hovered there having covered himself with his wings. Soshi looked at his own wand. "Let's see what you can do." He said. He fired five bursts in quick succession, all aimed for the shark captain. Kaller held the Essence Emerald horizontally in the air and created a forcefield around himself, absorbing the impact of the blasts. Kaller retaliated by sending out a beam of energy rings at Soshi, who dove at the last second. His wand glowing with power, Soshi fired two fireballs that homed in on Kaller. He was too slow to dodge and was consequently cooked. Soshi tried finishing him off with a series of blasts from the wand, which quickly mowed down Kaller's men, and damaged Kaller himself. He managed to get up to his feet and cast a shield around the entire ship with the Essence Emerald. He glared at Soshi. "You win this time, but I'll get that treasure from you yet!" Kaller's ship slowly turned around and headed back the way it came.

Soshi looked at his new magical weapon. "If he's talking about this, he's not getting it." Soshi chuckled, and flew on back to Toad Town.


	16. Princess Peach, Back in Action

_Chapter 14-Princess Peach-Back in Action_

Soshi's flight was erratic. The skirmish with Kaller had weakened him a bit. Still, he had to get back to Toad Town, and soon. Soshi was panting, and didn't know if he would make it. If he could, he'd be in no shape to face Koujin for at least a day. Something dawned on Soshi, however. Looking down at the magical weapon, Soshi wondered aloud, "Toadsworth said something about…does this thing have healing powers?" On the word "heal", a red light sparked from the core of the ruby and enveloped Soshi. He was so surprised, he nearly dropped the wand into the water. The light cloaked him, seeming to seep into his body, mending his wings, stitching together his cuts, and restoring his strength. When it faded, Soshi stared in awe at the magical instrument. He noticed, however, that the red stone in the center wasn't glowing quite as brightly as before. "It must have limited powers. Which means I need to get this to Peach right away." Soshi dove toward the Mushroom kingdom's capital, which was poking up from below the horizon.

--------------------

"Oh, dear, oh dear." paced Toadsworth. "We have tried everything, and still the princess will not wake up." The doctor walked into the sitting room outside Peach's room. Toadsworth lost his sanity and grabbed the Toad by his collar. "Well! Is she alright? Speak, man!" The confused doctor blubbered a bit before saying, "All her vital functions are fine, we have a pulse, breathing, everything. I'm not sure why she's not awake yet. But the mental shock was worse than he physical, as I have already said."

"Blasted Sky Yoshi." fumed Toadsworth. "If it wasn't for him…"

"If it wasn't for me what?" Soshi walked up the steps with a grin on his face.

Toadsworth nearly fainted. "You're alive! How? That…thing should have killed you. Or at least, the volcano-"

"Take it easy, old-timer. I told you, I don't want any trouble. I'll explain everything later. Right now, we have to get this," he brandished the Radiant Ruby "to the Princess." Toadsworth watched in silent stupor as the dragon calmly walked into the Princess's room, and closed the door.

In reality, Soshi wasn't calm at all. His hand was trembling as he walked over the Peach's still frame. He looked at the Radiant Ruby. The stone was still glowing. That meant it still had magic left. Soshi waved the wand over Peach. "Heal." he said. The red light shone again, surrounding Peach this time. After a much shorter time than Soshi's healing, the light faded, the gem stopped glowing, and the Princess opened her eyes.

"Where…am I?" she moaned. Upon looking at Soshi, she jumped and began a barrage of questions. "How did we escape? Where's Koujin? What am I…?" Soshi resisted the temptaion to slap her. "Peach, calm down. You're in your castle. Toadsworth is right outside. You made it." Peach got up, and started for the door. "Did you…save me?"

Soshi gritted his teeth and turned away in awkwardness. "Yeah. I suppose."

--------------------

Once again, Soshi was standing before Peach, but this time, on much different terms.

"Soshi, Sky Dragon." Peach began. "I thank you for saving my life. Now, tell me. Why did you come here in the first place."

Soshi began to tell his tale. He told of his father, Proarctica, his mother, King Toukee, Yoshi, and Koujin.

Peach started out mildly interested, then grew horrified. "That's just awful. We have to do whatever it takes to-" Peach didn't bother finishing her sentence. "Since you are obviously the next target, I am placing you in charge of the Mushroom Royal Army, along with Sergeant Strobel." A purple-shelled Koopa stepped out of the double doors behind Peach. "Formulate a plan of attack. I will contact the Yoshis and we will all storm Koujin's stronghold."

Soshi knelt before the two high-ranks. "Thank you."

Peach went back to her quarters, leaving Soshi with the Koopa alone. She descended down the steps. In her military uniform, she looked very official and business-like. But as soon as she spoke, she seemed as normal as anyone else.

"So, this Koujin character. How dangerous is he?" she inquired.

"Very. He kidnapped my mother. She's probably already dead. We'll need every ounce of strength we've got to beat him."

Strobel nodded. "I'll get the ships ready. The infantry has gathered outside. Instruct them to do whatever is necessary to defeat Koujin. Most importantly, we must have the element of surprise on our side."

The uniformed Koopa quickly climbed the steps to the second floor. She paused and turned to Soshi. "See you around…Corporal." And disappeared beyond the doors.


	17. The Chosen One

_Chapter 15-The Chosen One_

Kaller was bitter. He considered himself one of the best pirates ever. And yet, somehow, he had lost to a Yoshi. A Sky Yoshi. He couldn't believe it. As he looked off the balcony of his ship, he reflected on the battle. He had panicked, and retreated when it wasn't necessary. His crew members looked at him worryingly, and wondered if their captain would just stand there for the rest of his life. One of the sharks got pushed to the front, and was urged by the others to say something.

"Uh, Cap'n? What are we going to do?"

"Just leave me alone." Kaller said emotionlessly. "I need sometime 'ta think." Kaller departed for the Captain's quarters, leaving his crew members baffled. He closed the door and lay down on his bed, contemplating. Why had he retreated? It was something that would probably haunt him for the rest of his life. Kaller turned over. Doing so, he noticed a shaded figure standing in the corner, appearing to all huddled up, not moving an inch. Kaller stepped closer, preparing to turn whoever it was around and demand who he was and what he was doing here. As soon as Kaller made contact, however, an excruciating pain seared through his body. He tried to pull his hand back, but this proved futile. His mind felt like it was leaving him, and he slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

All of his shipmates heard the scream and came rushing into the room, only to find it empty when they arrived.

----------------------

Kaller slowly regained consciousness. First all he saw was a blur. Then as he gradually woke up, he could make out some shapes. He tried moving toward them, but was restrained by a cold, almost metallic hand. He had been chained to a board, and was looking into a drab, stone room. Kaller surveyed the situation. No doors, no windows, and he was immobile. Not too much to work with. The only thing of interest in the room was himself, the board he was strapped to, and a small console in one corner. A black hole appeared in the wall in front of him, and someone or something dressed in a pitch black cloak materialized out of it. His features were entirely hidden, except for two glaring red eyes. He looked as if he had a cloud trailing him.

Kaller eyed the figure. "Who are you?" he demanded.

It laughed diabolically. It approached Kaller, making him involuntarily wince. "My name is not important." His voice was deep and foreboding. "But I suppose I'll tell you seeing as how you're going to die." He laughed again. "My name is Koujin, but all you need to know is that you have something that I want."

Kaller shifted into defensive mode. "What? You've come to steal my treasure, haven't you? You're not getting it! Men, attack!" Kaller ordered at the top of his lungs. As expected by both parties, nothing happened, though Kaller was slow to accept that he might not be getting out of this one alive.

"Your men are miles away. Well, not exactly, but we can't expect your feeble mind to understand that, can we? All that's important is that you give me what I want. Cooperate, and I will kill you painlessly." Kaller gulped, wide eyed. "Now, hand it over. Give me the Essence Emerald!" Koujin yelled.

Kaller's fear dissolved away. As best as could, he reached behind him and pulled out the crescent-shaped wand. "You mean this?" he asked smugly.

Koujin chuckled. "That's it. And I'm afraid you must hand it over. Otherwise…" he didn't bother finishing his sentence. He walked over the console, and began typing in some commands. A large metal ring broke through the earthy ceiling, and descended to eye level. Steel plates covered the ring, turning it into a wrecking ball. Kaller rolled his eyes. Was this the best Koujin could do? Koujin typed in some more commands and spikes surrounded the ball. A freezing mist began to pour into the room, and Kaller could feel his body temperature dropping already. As if that weren't enough, the spiked wrecking ball began swinging slightly in Kaller's direction.

Koujin arrived at his ultimatum. "Now what Captain? Are you going to give me the Essence Emerald peacefully, or are you going to give me the satisfaction of prying it out of your cold, dead, crushed fin?" the wrecking ball was swinging faster and faster, and pretty soon, it would smash into Kaller. Despite the coldness of the room, Kaller was sweating. "You see," continued Koujin. "I searched Proarctica for many years, carving out all kinds of tunnels trying to extract the very magical artifact you now hold. You, fool, have no idea of its true power. Only I am the one destined to wield it. Along with the two other pieces of the Grand Treasure. I am the Chosen One." Koujin paused and looked triumphantly of the shark captain. What Koujin was really doing was stalling so that he could see his prisoner be crushed. The wrecking ball was so close now that it grazed a part of Kaller's skin. He winced and tried to flatten himself against the board. He closed one eye and stared Koujin down with the other.

"You…want it?" he rasped. "Go…get it!" with all his strength, he threw the Essence Emerald straight up. It spiraled through the air, embedding itself into the soft ceiling. Koujin eyed Kaller for a while, who already had much of the skin missing from his right hand. The wrecking ball was currently on its backswing. Koujin merely levitated toward the wand. The ball stopped and began its final descent towards Kaller. Koujin pulled the artifact from its resting point in the ceiling. He turned around just in time to see the wrecking ball crash directly into Kaller and the board, shattering them both into a million pieces. Even before the dust and smoke cleared, the familiar scent of blood filled the air.

Koujin left the room via another portal, but not before uttering a final "Fool." To his fallen victim.


	18. Ambushed

_Chapter 16-Ambushed_

Soshi watched as Strobel quickly withdrew from the main hall. The uniform made her look very official, but underneath her harsh, business-like exteriorwas something else. Something Soshi couldn't quite place his finger on. Something that comforted Soshi.He shook the thought from his head, dismissing it. He turned around and headed for the door.

Outside, he was met with many soldiers, all awaiting his command. Soshi felt kind of awkward, with all these soldiers dressed in uniforms. As he slowly made his way in front of the crowd, the soldiers all stared ahead at him, watching his every move. Soshi decided not to be put off by this and just do what he needed to do.

"Soldiers of the Toad Town Army." He said. "Today we begin your training. I'm aware most of you have received rigorous training, however, now we are against a new enemy. An enemy of the kind none of you have ever faced before." The croud was silent, but Soshi could feel the apprehension boiling inside every individual. Still, he continued. "We will be covering defense tactics, surprise maneuvers, and aerial assaults. Paratroopas may have an easier time with this. We will begin now." Soshi moved through the croud and began attacking one of the Toad soldiers. He yelped a cry and before anyone saw what happened, Soshi had him by the leg. He snickered and released the slightly rattled Toad. "As you can see, I will be the one fighting you all. Learn to defend and attack back."

Through the day, Soshi ran a rigorous training regimen through the army. Paratroopas followed formations to the letter, skills with weapons were increased by the land forces, and the Koopas were taught the best defense that Soshi knew. As the sun set, Soshi was winded a little. He had packed all the training he had learned in his life into eight hours. He sat down to rest, when he heard a rustling sound. He picked up the source of the sound immediately, before anyone figured out what was going on. From a bush, he could hear shaking. As he approached, the whole army followed him, as if tethered to him. All of a sudden, Soshi turned toward them.

"Get back!" he yelled and ran in the opposite direction. Instantly, a black spider-like shadow came after him. It took the army by surprise and headed straight for Soshi, who had anticipated this. He stopped abruptly, took off, did a loop in the air, and crashed, talons first, into the spider-like shadow. He and the army looked at it. It was nothing more than a black spot on the ground. Soshi heard another sound, looking out to the horizon, he could see hundreds of the same black shadows, making their way steadily toward them.

Everyone took defensive positions. "They've been lying in wait for us. Paratroopas!" he ordered. "Form a sky line behind me! Everyone else, fight as if your life depended on it!" Soshi took off once again, and the two armies met. Instantly, the clink of swords striking claws, and the sound of claw striking flesh could be heard. Soshi dived into the midst of the battle, wings stiff. He took out a whole row of the creatures, but more quickly replaced them. Each paratroopa in the line did the same, but they, too, had almost no effect. Soshi made the mistake of landing. Since he didn't have a weapon, the creatures swarmed him. He could feel each claw tearing off part of his skin. He knew he didn't have much of a chance. Soshi closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Suddenly, the pain was gone, Soshi quickly opened his eyes to see General Strobel diligently hacking away at the intruders. Soshi didn't have time to thank her as another spider-like shadow jumped him. He managed to tear it off, while at the same time reaching for his secret weapon. The screams of many Mushroomers could be heard in the distance, but Soshi tried not to think about that as he brandished the Radiant Ruby. That was Soshi's second mistake. As soon as the red gem caught the fading sunlight, the creatures stopped their assault on the others and assembled straight for Soshi. Instinctively, he flew up, blasting them with energy from the wand. More still came-there seemed to be endless numbers. Eventually, one of them caught on to his tactic, and climbed on top of another, claws raised. It managed to scratch at Soshi's side, causing him to lose his concentration. The end result was that Soshi could not keep his elevation. He desended into the throng of ravenous shadowy spiders. The army was decimated. They could only watch helplessly as their new leader was fruitlessly trying to fend them off with his weapon.

"It's OK." Soshi said weakly. "They only want me. They'll leave you all alone." Before his vision was completely blocked he turned to General Strobel. "I'm sorry…I couldn't be of more help." Soshi felt a tremendous pain as the creatures overwhelmed him. And then he felt…movement. They weren't going to kill him. They were taking him away. He couldn't see where he was going. He didn't know where he was being taken. Soshi couldn't fight the sheer exhaustion any longer. He let his eyes close.


	19. Out for Revenge

**A/N: **No, I didn't forget about this. Just took a little break.

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Chapter 17-Out for Revenge

Coughing and gasping for air, a distressed figure lay on the stone cold floor. As the dust settled, Kaller regained some of his visibility. As he felt the pain course through his body, he flashed back on just how he had survived that encounter. He recalled Koujin's speech. Koujin was too self-absorbed in himself to realize his prisoner, who was secretly heating the metal clasps around his hands with his wand. When they were sufficiently heated, all Kaller had done was broke through them while he distracted Koujin with the Essence Emerald. However, Kaller failed to escape completely in time before the spiked ball smashed the board to bits. It had glanced off him, striking his right side before smashing the board, leaving him motionless on the ground.

Now Kaller lay face-down on the floor, coughing out the blood that was filling his mouth and throat. He rolled over and examined his wounds. His left side was completely unharmed, however, his right had a few deep gashes in them, as well as a few bruises from where the steel ball itself had connected. The biggest and most serious injury of them all was a puncture that completely cut through his lower fin, and Kaller knew he would have to seek medical help soon. Still, he was alive, if only temporarily, and that alone was something to celebrate. However, the Essence Emerald was now in Koujin's grasp. Or was it? The captain let out a small laugh as he reached behind himself and pulled the weapon out from the bloodstained satchel on his back. He smiled as he fingered it. He remembered having one of his men forging a duplicate for him from ordinary glass, in the case of just such an event. He chuckled again at his own ingenuity.

Kaller noticed, for the first time, a window located on the back wall of the room. It was more of a hole, actually, and looked just big enough for Kaller to fit through. He scanned the room for something he could use to reach it. As he eyed the now-still wrecking ball, he saw the splinters of wood from the crushed board on the floor. A few big chunks still remained and Kaller figured that was all he'd need to get out. Handling the boards with one fin proved difficult, but soon Kaller's patience was rewarded as he set the final large piece in place. Carefully, he stepped on the pile, almost able to grasp the window's lip. Without a second thought, he jumped and grabbed it, knocking over his stack in the process. Hanging by one hand, Kaller forced his body up, over, and out the window, where he lay on the ground, panting and looking at his damaged fin.

Kaller's next task was to figure out how to get away from here, back to his crew, wherever they were. He scanned his surroundings. The only thing of interest was the huge stone castle in which he had been a prisoner. As he circled the perimeter, he noticed a small town not too far from it. A small stretch of water separated it and the castle on the island. Kaller knew he couldn't get his fin wet, especially with salt water, but his only choice was to swim. The dripping blood from his fin, coupled with a sudden feeling of lightheadedness told Kaller that he had to seek medical attention right away. He would have to swallow his pride and ask for help. Half-reluctantly, he slipped into the water, keeping his fin above. He swam toward the shore, grunting against the splash of the waves. He had almost reached the shore when a particularly big wave took over and dipped him underwater to the shore. Pain coursed through Kaller's body yet again as the sea water mixed with blood from his wound. He didn't have time to think about that now as he ran through the town, trying to find some kind of assistance. Finally, a Toad came out of one building adorned with a red heart on his chest.

"Are you lost?" he inquired.

"Please." begged Kaller. "Do you know where a hospital is?" he showed the toad his fin.

"Oh, my." said the Toad. "You've certainly come to the right place. Come, we must act quickly." The Toad's voice was beginning to take on a sense of urgency.

As Kaller was rushed inside the building he could see the building's distinct hospital feel. Different rooms held different patients, and Kaller felt almost sorry for them. Some were fighting for their lives, and it quickly came to his realization that he soon, could be too. Hoever, these thoughts were cut short as Kaller felt a needle poke into his arm, and felt himself drifting into unconsciousness.

----------------------

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Are you there?"

Silence.

"CAPTAIN, WAKE UP, MAN!"

"Agh, who? what?" Kaller woke with a start. He looked down into the eyes of his crewmates. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, hello men. How did you all find me?"

"Don't worry, captain." One of the sharks said. "We smelled your blood and we just want to know what happened."

Kaller sighed and looked at his fin, which had been wrapped up in bandages. Little had been done for his other injuries however. "I will tell you about it later. Right now we must worry about getting the last two pieces of the treasure!"

Shouts of concern were heard among his crew. "What?" "No, captain you can't!" "You have to rest!"

"No. You don't understand." Kaller's comment hushed the group. "Someone else is hunting the treasure as well, and if he suceeds, I fear that Plit will face a more horrible fate than if I had the treasure." Kaller cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, and I use the term loosely, I have an announcement. I have decided to turn over a new leaf. Go straight, if you will. No more stealing, no more unjust behavior."

More shouts of disapproval. "Are you kidding?" "What is wrong with you, captain?" "That's not fair!" "No more battles?"

"Silence! I am still the captain, injured or not, and what I say, goes. However, don't despair, there is one last chance for you and I to do everything we love. The person who injured me obviously isn't taking it very lightly. We will seek him out and kill him, so that whatever he's planning may never come to surface. I am most certainly seeking revenge, and the more I think about it, the angrier I become. This is the last time, so make it count, especially since I have a grudge against this one. Are we all clear on that?"

His crew looked at each other, and gave a unanimous salute. "Yes, sir!" was the collective cry.

"Good." Said Kaller, and he regained the evil glint in his eye. "Koujin had better watch his back."


	20. Sealed with a Promise

_Chapter 18-Sealed with a Promise_

A thud woke Soshi from his state of unconsciousness. He tried to regain his eyesight, but light never came. Soshi's initial reaction was to panic. His eyes had failed him. He had gone blind. As he frantically shook himself, he saw a faint outline of his hand in front of him. Relieved, he flopped back down onto the cold floor. He wasn't blind. There just wasn't any light in the room. Quickly, he snapped out of his trance, and got back up on his feet, scanning the room as he did so. Soshi saw not the slightest trace of movement. Not a single sign of a soul anywhere in sight.

"_This is strange." _he thought to himself. _"I expected to wake up in the worst condition possible. Maybe Koujin's getting soft. Wait…I can't even assume that it was Koujin's army who took me. Argh, I can't remember anything about them. Were they human? No, they were…some sort of shadow things. They had to have been Koujin's. There's no other explanation. Unless…"_

His thoughts were cut short as a loud, intimidating voice permeated the room.

"Hmm. So you have awakened."

Soshi immediately recognised the voice. It _was _Koujin after all. "You coward! Show yourself!"

Koujin's voice chuckled. "A little anxious to be rushing to our death aren't we? No matter. They all think you're dead anyway."

Soshi was baffled by this statement. "What do you mean!" he shouted. "Who thinks I'm dead!"

"Why, everyone, of course. The princess, the army, even that pathetic Sergeant." Koujin's voice had a hint of disgust, but soon returned to its original malevolent tone. "You see, when my army ambushed you back at the castle, they all saw you, a bloody corpse taking up space on the castle grounds."

Soshi was still confused. "But you took me here! How could I be still at the castle? Why are you doing this?" Soshi's voice started to waver.

"Must I explain everything?" Koujin took a pause to let Soshi become lost in emotion. "You see, I merely scanned a copy of you in your place." Koujin drew out every word to relish Soshi's helpless position. "For all the princess and everyone else knows, you're long gone. Oh, and did I mention I had the unspeakable pleasure to break the news to mommy, too?"

"What!" Soshi couldn't believe it. Now Koujin was spreading lies to his own mother. The only connection Soshi had left felt like it was severed. But then, Soshi realized, she must be alive herself. However, that didn't change that Koujin was definitely trying to play with his emotions, weakening him until he was rendered incapable of rational thought. He would destroy himself from the inside out. Soshi felt Koujin's plan working as his true emotions breached the surface.

"You inhuman demon! Is this how you get your fun?" The normally level-headed dragon was now pulsing with an enormous amount of emotional pain. "Preying on the emotions of others! It's bad enough that you killed all those innocent soldiers at the castle, why are you singling me out! What have I ever done to you!" Soshi tried to hold back the tears that were already steadily streaming down his face. He collapsed on his hands and knees on the ground, breathing heavily as thoughts of everyone he knew, and everything he cherished, was about to be stripped away. All this was being dumped on him in mere seconds. He felt his hands rapidly losing heat for some reason, but was too preoccupied with his thoughts to pull them away. Instead he dug his nails into the floor, hoping that it would hjelp him get a better grip on reality, on keeping his focus. As he started to regain his composure, Koujin's voice rang again, sill in its usual cocky tone.

"Well, if you feel that strongly about it…" Soshi could only wait for Koujin to continue, but instead, a flash of light illuminated the once-dark room. Soshi could now see he was kneeling on a floor of solid ice and quickly pulled his hands out. He looked about him, and there, standing in the corner, was Koujin, somehow looking smug even under his cloak. Soshi could feel some anger rushing back into him. He gritted his teeth as he stared his kidnapper down. Koujin elongated the icicle-wand he held in his hand, grinning as the blue stone on top came in contact with the light. Soshi instinctively grabbed for the Radiant Ruby, but just as he clasped it, Koujin finished his sentence. "…are you prepared to fight for it?"

Soshi froze. _"What? He wants to fight? That must be his plan. He's already gotten into my head with his lies. He knows they've weakened me. So why do I continue to believe them?_ _It's as if…some part of me…believes it's true. But what am I saying? It can't be true, or else I wouldn't be here. It's all so confusing…"_

Soshi was about to drop to his knees again, consumed by his thoughts, but much to Koujin's surprise, he shook all the thoughts out of his head and stared at Koujin with newfound resolve. _"Just focus."_ Soshi told himself. His hand grasped the magical item tighter, and Soshi held his weapon out in plain view. He unfurled his wings, and stood slightly shifted backward in a defensive position, ready for anything Koujin could throw at him.

Seeing the Radiant Ruby brought great pleasure to Koujin, as he eyed it hungrily. "Soshi," he said, "you have no idea the kind of power you are wielding. Allow me to take it off your hands." On these words, the ice lord dissapeared. Soshi was on his guard, however, and just a fraction of a second later he heard a sound behind. Soshi whirled around just in time to see Koujin attacking with a blue energy blast. Soshi deflected the blast with his wand, and flew straight at the cloaked figure behind it. Soshi was about to make contact, when Koujin disappeared in a wisp of smoke. It was just an illusion.

The tiny amount of time that Soshi stopped was enough for Koujin to nail Soshi with freezing cold blast, courtesy of his wand. As he reeled, Soshi glanced upward to see that Koujin now also wielded his sword. Soshi knew he wouldn't have a chance against two weapons, so he had to take the offensive now. With no hesitation, Soshi lifted off, and breathed a fireball at Koujin. Aside from singing his robe a bit, the attack proved futile. However, Soshi expected this. The dragon had used the fireball as a distraction, time enough for him to take in a deep breath and spew a continual flame of fire at Koujin. The ice lord was engulfed by the flames, and Soshi continued the devastating assault. When the fire subsided, Soshi saw that Koujin had conjured a chunk of ice and had held it there in midair. It had absorbed the attack, and Koujin was unharmed. Koujin guided the ice shield through the air to Soshi. Thinking quickly, Soshi dove and aimed his wand for an attack under Koujin, however, Koujin conjured another ice chunk, and blocked this attack as well. Koujin soon surrounded himself in a solid ball of ice, which seemed to take on a blue glow. Soshi was caught slightly off guard as it swooped down on him with blinding speed. Soshi jumped out of the way, as Koujin crashed into the ground, but the resulting stinging wpray of ice blinded Soshi. During that few seconds' time, Koujin somewhow dislodged himself from the ground and crashed into Soshi again. Still having a firm grasp on his Radiant Ruby, Soshi blew another flame at Koujin. However, instead of blocking it, the flame turned around and aimed at Soshi, Koujin having returned the dragon's own attack.

The intense temperature change caused more pain to Soshi than it should have, but Soshi still continued to press through. Soshi saw Koujin's sword jut out from his protective barrier, and once again, he blocked with his wand. Koujin, however, was able to overpower Soshi and rip a gash in his stomach. Soshi watched in horror, as a steady stream of blood spilled out of the jagged cut. Still, he pooled his remaining strength toharden his wings. If he hit the ball with enough force, he could shatter it. Koujin foresaw his plan, and slammed into Soshi's body, not stopping until he had slammed Soshi against the wall of the room. The bone-crushing blow was almost too much for Soshi to bear. Koujin raised his wand, and blasted him with icy beams, despite how much Soshi tried to resist. He could feel his grip on his wand weakening. Seizing his chance, Koujin snatched the wand from the Sky Yoshi's broken claws, slashing him in the face as he did so. Soshi was too weak to resist. He felt the blood trickle down his face, the sole warmth in this freezing,unforgiving room, where he would surely meet his end. He watched as Koujin now held his own weapon above him, triumphant, confident that the battle was over, Soshi having hardly put up a fight.

"You should be thanking me. You have helped me move one step closer to dominating this puny planet. And you have also given me your life." Koujin broke the barrier surrounding him. "I wish I could say you were a formidable adversary. However, who would that fool?"

Weakly, Soshi turned toward his foe. In an almost inaudible voice, he mumbled, "Someone will stop you. This is not where it ends. Someone will find a way. And as always…" he even managed to smile slightly. "My word is my bond."

This seemed only to fuel the rage and bloodlust Koujin harbored. He so looked forward to seeing his adversary crushed by his own weapon. As he pointed the wand at the dragon, he muttered while shaking his head slightly. "Such a pitiful promise."


	21. A Last Look

_Chapter 19-A Last Look_

As Soshi waited for the final blow, he reflected back on all he'd let down. The Princess, his parents, the Royal Army, and ultimately, all of Plit. He shut his eyes tightly, tears trickling down his face, and mixing with the blood that stained his face and body. Soshi could feel the drops fall on his hands. This is how it would end. Him having failed everyone. What would his father think? He truly was a failure. Soshi convinced himself of that in his last remaining moments of life.

"ARRRRRRRGGGHH!" Koujin's scream was long, loud, and victorious as he thrust his sword into the Sky Yoshi's side with all his might. This was it, with the dragon vanquished, he would be closer to obtaining his goal of ruling Plit forever. A new era was about to begin, and with it would come utter chaos and destruction. The mere thought caused Koujin to relish every millisecond.

Koujin was deterred, however, by a large explosion from one of the walls. A sheet of crystalline mist was thrown into the air, catching the Ice Lord complely off guard. When the visibility improved, he saw an enormous ship jutting out into his dungeon, and at the helm was one very irate shark.

"You. You are the one who tortured me." Kaller began. "I have a score to settle with you."

Koujin gasped, a rare occurrence. "You survived? How!" he growled. " No matter, I have no time for you. I will finish this pitiful dragon first!" Koujin looked down at his original prey, who was no longer there. Koujin's sword struck nothing but the icy floor. Looking around, he found Soshi, leaning up against a pillar on the far side of the room, his gaze at the floor. "You pitiful fool. You don't know when to give up, do you?" Koujin scoffed. Soshi merely smirked, and wiped away the blood around his mouth.

"Like I told you, someone found a way to stop you." In reailty, Soshi was still feeling the effects of Koujin's assault, but he was putting on a show to try and intimidate Koujin. His hope was to somehow create a distraction until Kaller could do something, anything.

Kaller addressed the Ice Lord. "Are you going to stand there gawkin' or are ya gonna fight?"

This raised a chuckle from Koujin. "Fight me?" He said calmly. "You have no weapon, fool. Remember the Essence Emerald you were so kind to give me?" Koujin sheathed his sowrd and brought out the weapon.

Kaller grinned. "You mean…this one?" the shark pulled out the real weapon from his vest. "That one I "gave" you was a fake. That's just glass." Koujin's crew appeared behind him, but Koujin held out one fin to push them back. "No, I'll take him alone. You all 'ead on 'ome. I won't be returning." The others were hesitant. "THAT'S AN ORDER!" Quickly befuddled by their captain's command, the others nevertheless withdrew from sight and started to turn the ship slowly away. Kaller watched as his majestic ship sailed off into the dark horizon. He turned to the Ice Lord. "Now then, where were we?" Kaller fired a green star at Koujin, who promptly jumped in the air and hovered there, disposing of the fake weapon on the ground. "I shall take you down, Koujin. And I'll do it by my own 'and!"

"Even with that wand, you're powerless. I'll finish you and that dragon in one attack!" Immediately, Koujin summoned two slabs of ice to break away from the walls. The edges of the ice were magically sanded down into razor-sharp points. They took on the appearance of buzzsaw blades. Koujin chuckled. "Meet my ultimate weapons of destruction. Now, my Crystal Blades, attack!" At Koujin's discretion, the blades came to life, and sped towards Soshi and Kaller. The shark dove out of the way, but the Sky Yoshi was too exhausted to move. He watched as the blade grew ever closer. The Blade that went after Kaller made a perfect turnaround and headed straight for the shark once more. Kaller did not anticipate this and as the spinning blade connected vertically, it ground up the shark's flesh. Upon slamming Kaller into the opposite wall, the blade stopped, and he fell limp. Soshi knew Kaller was still alive, if barely. The shark's resilience was astounding. Soshi hoped so was his own, as the blade connected full force to Soshi, but the familiar blackout never came, the blade not aimed for his chest as Soshi had thought. It had instead merely pinned Soshi to the wall, keeping him fully conscious, staring at his captor.

"You…didn't kill me…?" Soshi asked weakly.

"Oh no, don't worry. I have every intention of doing that, however, there is something I'd like you to see first." Koujin laughed maliciously. "Since you have managed to evade death so far, out of the goodness of my heart I feel you've earned this right."

Soshi didn't say a word, but his thoughts were busy. _"What is he talking about? What right?"_

"Just think of it as a little parting gift." Koujin continued. A circular platform of ice broke and lowered from the ceiling, surrounded by a glass case. As it lowered, the platform slowly revealed the trapped figure inside. Soshi recognized who it was and it seemed to confirm all his fears.

"M…M-Mother." He managed to say.

"Soshi. No. Why are you here…Did he…?"

Words could not describe the mutual sorrow the mother and son shared. Each of them with tears in their eyes, faring for the life of the other, knowing that in the tiniest moment, Koujin could kill either or both of them. Their emotions ran circles around them, tearing their hearts and sanity apart. Although she was mere feet away from him, Soshi felt farther away from his mother than he ever had in his life. Even when his father told him she was dead, Soshi still felt close to her, but now, there was nothing.

"Did you enjoy this little reunion Soshi?" Koujin asked. Sosha looked with pure fear at Koujin.

Soshi didn't respond, his blank stare showing no emotion except inner sadness. There were no tears left, just crushing, unbearable sadness.

"Well, I can see you're at a loss for words." Koujin chuckled darkly. "I'm glad your mother could see you again, Soshi. Before her death!" Quickly, and unexpectedly, Koujin thrust his sword through the barrier and into Sosha's chest. His sword stuck out the other end, along with the geyser of blood it was coated with. Sosha's expression was frozen, locked into a state of perpetual fear, her eyes still open. Soshi felt a pain in his heart, though it was somewhat nulified by the expected cruelty of Koujin's act. He hung his head, his attention now diverted to the pain growing in his body. Koujin withdrew his sword with a sickening squish, quite pleased with himself. "Now do you see? You are truly alone in this world Soshi. You don't care about anyone, and they don't care about you. The only two filthy creatures who did are gone, forever. But don't worry. I'll make sure you're back together with them very soon. That's what you want isn't it?" Koujin drew this out as long as possible taking great delight in Soshi's pain and instability. Soshi once again believed every word Koujin said. He hadn't cared for anyone his entire life. It had always been him and him alone. Even his former enemy, Kaller, had tried to help, and paid a terrible price. Soshi couldn't think of one person he cared about who was still alive.

"Well, no sense in dragging this out any longer. Goodbye, Soshi." But as Koujin readied himself to kill the dragon, Soshi knew. The one person he cared about. Truly, genuinely cared about. His thoughts focused on that one person, and could feel energy seeping back into him. A white light enveloped him, the same he had experienced on Proarctica, when he first faced Koujin. Koujin's sword glanced off Soshi, and Soshi's pure channeled energy shattered the Crystal Blade that held him in place. He landed harshly on the ground, the resulting vibration knocking the Ice Lord down.

"What-what magic is this?" Koujin stuttered. Soshi snatched the Radiant Ruby back from Koujin immediately.

"This is no magic, Koujin." Soshi said the name disgustedly. "This is my true power. Fueled by the one person I care about. I have overridden your power, it is insignificant compared to mine." To demonstrate, Soshi pointed the wand at Koujin, channeling his energy into it. Koujin was paralyzed. He could only watch as a devastatingly large wall of flame rushed toward him, burning first his cloak, then his skin. He cried out in insurmountable pain, as Soshi continued the attack. It lasted only seconds, but when it finally stopped, Koujin lay charred, but not dead. Soshi had one last thing he had to say. "Koujin. The one person who I care about, the one person you will never understand how I feel about, the person I _love_," Soshi paused.

"…is Sergeant Rena Strobel."


	22. A New Target

_Chapter 20-A New Target_

The threat of his life and Plit was about to be vanquished. From Kaller's weak grasp Soshi seized the Essence Emerald. The dragon pointed the two magical items at Koujin, the crests at the top glistening off the reflections in the ice. "It's my destiny to rid Plit from your clutches." he growled. Soshi tensed his hand. He couldn't afford to hesitate. The time had come for him to kill again. "With these two pieces of the Great Treasure, I'll have more than enough power to defeat you!" His threat was somewhat empty, but the dragon didn't care. he focused his newfound power into both weapons. With one swift movement, he aimed the blasts at the Ice Lord. Soshi continued the assault, watching as the beams moved closer. At the last second, with no provocation, Koujin raised his sword and deflected both beams up towards the ceiling, sending a cold wind raining down on Soshi.

Koujin chuckled, however, he still appeared to be seriously injured. He slowly stood, grasping his side and holding his limp arm, all the while laughing as if nothing happened. "Don't you see what you've done?" he panted. "You've given me the opportunity." He chuckled again as Soshi prepared another blast. His weapons charged with energy, but they quickly faded when the Ice Lord held up his sword. Soshi knew the attacks would only be blocked again. "By giving me a name, you've given me a new target." Koujin laughed one final time before disappearing in a wisp of smoke.

Soshi silently cursed to himself in the dank cavern. He had failed again, and now more innocent lives would be put on the line. He was pathetic, just another obstacle Koujin had overcome on his quest for ultimate power. Soshi set the two weapons down and hopelessly stared at his hands. They were callused and bleeding from his tight grip on the weapons. Soshi sighed as he realized he was slowly destroying himself in the process as well. Not just physically, but also emotionally. Who was he to think he could have stopped Koujin? The dragon closed his eyes, and realized there was nothing more he could do.

From the hole in the wall where Kaller first appeared, Soshi now felt a harsh wind. He struggled to his feet and peered slowly out of the hole. Looking up, he witnessed the formation of an immense black storm cloud that seemed to eat away at the night sky around it. The winds were swirling the clouds toward a center point, which was now beginning to stretch outward, consuming everything insight, plunging the sky into an infinite black sea. The waves of the shore were beginning to gain force. Some were high enough to actually enter the cave, the foam even splashing Soshi in the face. The ocean's water was the same midnight black as the sky above. Koujin was putting his plan to work now, and Soshi had to stop him while the storm was still young. He didn't know how, but he had to get back to the castle. Koujin would be attacking Sergeant Strobel and the rest of the Royal Army next. He couldn't give up. Everyone would be counting on him and him alone this time.

As Soshi gathered his courage to pursue, he looked behind him at the still impaled shark that was still hanging on the wall. The dragon sighed as he knew he would have to leave Kaller behind. Soshi forced the Crystal Blade out of Kaller's body, and let him drop limp, to the floor. He stared seriously at Kaller, noticing his chest was still rising and falling. Relief flooded into Soshi as his suspicions were confirmed; Kaller was indeed still alive. Before taking to the skies, Soshi whispered almost inaudibly, "Thank you."


	23. The Third Treasure

Chapter 21-The Third Treasure 

A crosswind blew, sending the waves below Soshi into a raging fury. He paid them no heed as he flew toward the distant storm cloud swirling in the night sky. But no matter how long Soshi flew, the cloud still seemed to linger at the exact same spot in the sky. Undeterred, he pressed on. He was Plit's last hope. Clutching the Emerald in his hand and the Ruby in his mouth, the Sky Yoshi tried his best not to think about his injuries.

"_First things first._" He thought to himself again. Fueled only his rage and righteous fury, the dragon never wavered from his destination. The dark cloud was now beginning to spread outwards in all directions, but Soshi kept a close eye on the precise center of the cloud-the focal point, his destination. As the clouds started to pass overhead, Soshi knew there was no turning back.

There was a noticeable drop in temperature as the cloud took Soshi in its growing land. Rain started washing down from the sky in sheets, obscuring Soshi's vision. The winds raged even faster than before, bringing Soshi to start shivering mid-flight. At last, the focal point began to draw nearer, and Soshi could see clearly what it was focused over. A white limestone building with a red roof, and a stained glass picture of Princess Peach on the front. The flags on top of the castle were already torn off, and the strong winds threatened to do the same to the castle itself.

Alighting on the castle's bridge, Soshi proceeded forward toward the castle's front door. Safely out of the pouring rain and high winds, Soshi flapped his drenched wings, and shivered all over. He was thoroughly soaked and exhausted and just wanted this entire nightmare to be over. Soshi gripped the knob and that same unmistakable eerie feeling shot up him. Koujin was near. As he carefully opened the door, all he could see was pure darkness. He bravely marched in, ready to confront Koujin once and for all, and to save the one he held dear.

The door slammed shut behind Soshi, and an audible click was heard as it locked. No big deal. He really didn't think he'd be getting out of this one anyway. Alone in the dark once again, Soshi waited for his nemesis to show himself.

"I really didn't think you'd dare to come." Koujin cackled.

"Cut the bullcrap, Koujin. Just stop being a coward and fight me already!"

"Oh." Koujin mockingly sounded hurt. "So soon after our last encounter? And not even a 'hello' or a 'how are you?' You certainly haven't learned any manners, have you?"

"_Don't listen to him, Soshi. He's playing with your head again._" Soshi kept his anger and insanity in check.

"Perhaps you would be more polite to me if I simply turned on the light?" On these words, the hall illuminated and Soshi saw himself in the familiar interior of the castle. But there was one thing out of place. A single tile on the ceiling was loose. As Soshi approached it and craned his neck upwards, the tile cracked. The Sky Yoshi jumped back just in time as the tile and several others broke loose and crashed down into a heap of rubble on the ground.

As the dust cleared, Soshi saw his adversary standing tall. Yet there was another figure lying beside him, a small Koopa clad in a high-ranking military uniform. Her eyes were closed and she did not appear to be breathing.

"No…you didn't. You couldn't have…"

"Ha! It appears you are too late, Sky Dragon." Koujin laughed. "I really must thank you for giving me such a prime a easy target, especially when it is one so dear to your heart."

Soshi growled. This time Koujin had gone too far. "How far will you go to break me?"

"I believe I've already accomplished that. And with fantastic results." The Ice Lord chuckled evilly.

"You will pay for all the suffering you've caused. All these innocent lives, lost because of you! You won't leave here with your life, Koujin!" Soshi's rage grew as he brandished his two weapons.

"Yes, that's it. Let that rage consume you." Koujin said. "You know, Soshi, I see you're becoming more like me every day."

That struck a nerve inside Soshi's mind. "How DARE you compare myself to you!" Soshi screamed as he dashed toward Koujin, weapons charged. Koujin simply teleported out of the way, and punched Soshi square in the back. Soshi quickly turned around and there was no one there. Koujin blasted him in the back with his wand, temporarily paralyzing Soshi.

"You know Sky Dragon, if you had all three pieces of the treasure, you could have easily overtaken me by now. But you fell short and only came up with two. A costly mistake!" Koujin blasted Soshi against the far wall. Soshi limped on the, half-sitting, between the wall and the floor. Soshi knew he was right. He hadn't had time to search for the third treasure. He probably could have defeated Koujin if he had.

"It's just as well, really. You wouldn't have been able to obtain it anyway." Koujin leaned in close to Soshi's face, his red eyes the primary focus in the dragon's field of vision. "Would you like me to show you the third treasure, Soshi?" he whispered. Soshi just uttered a weak groan, a chilling combination of every injury he had received from Koujin.

The Ice Lord brought his wand up to his face, the many facets of the blue stone glistening off the light.

"I hold it in my hands right here. The Sentient Sapphire."


	24. Plit's Darkness

Chapter 22-Plit's Darkness

It took a while for Soshi's brain to wrap around what Koujin had said. However, it became clearer as the Ice Lord twirled the Sentient Sapphire in front of Soshi's face, letting the light reflect off its facets and into Soshi's eyes. He never stood a chance. All the time searching had gone to waste. Koujin held the third piece of the treasure all along. Soshi tried to grab it from Koujin, but a sharp pain shot up his arm, through his shoulder and to his throat. Soshi choked off a groan, a side effect of the paralysis.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Koujin said, mocking remorse. "Is this what you want?" he taunted. "I'm sorry, Sky Yoshi, but I'm afraid I need this." He patted the Sapphire. "And you know something? While I'm at it, I will take these off your hands as well." Koujin held out his hand, which glowed a brilliant white. Soshi knew what he was doing, but the paralysis hadn't worn off yet, so all he could do was watch in horror as the Ice Lord magically pulled the Radiant Ruby and the Essence Emerald away from his hands. As Koujin grasped the two magical instruments, he chuckled maniacally. "At last. At last I possess the three pieces of the Legendary Treasure!" Koujin took Sgt. Strobel from her unmoving position on the ground, "If you want to see her again, you will surely try and stop me on the roof!" He created a black portal above him and floated up through the ceiling, laughing all the while, leaving Soshi unhurt, but unable to move.

Soshi's head turned toward the window. It was still raining sheets outside, only now there were flashes of purple-tinted lightning. That wasn't natural, Soshi thought. The moat around the castle was splashing against the window, though not strongly enough to break it. Yet. Soshi knew he had to stop Koujin now. This was his last chance. As the clouds gathered in a huge mass outside, Soshi blocked out all noise and just focused on himself. He closed his eyes, so he'd see nothing, hear nothing, and hopefully feel nothing. Soshi's hope was that this extreme state of relaxation could counter the paralysis. Just as the dragon was beginning to feel calm, a particularly big flash of lightning crackled across ch the sky followed by a thunderous roar. Soshi jumped the slightest bit, which caused a jolt of pain in his entire body.

"Calm yourself down." He told himself. "This is important. Deep breaths. In and out. In…and out…" Soshi began his meditation of sorts again. Normally he'd feel very silly, but now he felt no emotion. None at all. Not even pain. Soshi slowly began to regain the feel in his body, without the jolt of pain. First his neck, then his arms, followed by his wings. The feeling creeped back in him, as his legs and lastly, his claws became familiar to him once again.

When he was positive everything was in working order, Soshi opened his eyes. He felt a lot better. He flexed his muscles just to be sure. No pain. Soshi happily rejoiced for a second before he knew it was time to get serious. Soshi threw open the double doors on the second floor, and flew up the long spiral staircase to the roof. The closer he got, the heavier the air around him seemed to get. The dank air he knew was Koujin's doing, and didn't seem to care much. He only wanted to see Sgt. Strobel again and stop Koujin. Upon reaching the roof, Soshe arrived just in time to see the Ice Lord throw the high-ranking Koopa into the moat, which had overflowed and now completely surrounded Peach's Castle and its outlying lands. When Soshi flew over the edge into the open air, he could see the current was dragging her away, out to sea. The blue Sky Yoshi also noticed a second figure floating, clad in a full length pink dress.

"Peach!" Soshi yelled and immediately dove forward. A gut-wrenching pain in his stomach caught him dead in his tracks, however, and he was subsequently pulled back towards the castle, tumbling backwards on the ground as he landed.

"Ah ah ah…" Koujin scolded. "We mustn't go headfirst into something we know nothing of, should we?" Koujin's three weapons magically floated out of his cloak, and flew a few tens of feet above the pair. There, they hovered in a large triangle, before beaming down electric bolts that served as barriers to prevent anything from getting in or out. The weapons sealed up the opening at the top with electricity as well. Soshi, seeing this, turned all his attention toward Koujin, half-enraged, half-dumbfounded. "It is a new skill I have recently acquired. The three treasures make me all powerful, as I have told you, have I not?" the villain grinned under his cloak. "Looks like the only way you will be able to rescue the princess and that foolish Koopa is if you can get through me." Koujin's cloak began to glow and it emitted an aura of three colors, red, green and blue, one for each piece of the Legendary Treasure. Soshi blanched. The creep had somehow absorbed the powers of the treasures.

Koujin laughed darkly. "And believe me, Sky Dragon. That is by no means an easy task."


	25. Last Chance

Chapter 23-Last Chance 

The sky dragon breathed deeply. He knew this was it. One of them had to die here, and if it was him, nothing would stand in Koujin's way. But as Soshi knew Koujin had all three treasures in his possession, his chances against the villain were reduced dramatically. As he readied himself, Soshi stared down his adversary, who was merely hovering in the air a few inches above the roof of the castle. As he waited for Koujin to make the first move, Soshi drew strength from everyone he knew was counting on him.

"It ends here Sky Yoshi!" Koujin cackled. "You will die here! I swear it!" On Koujin's words, an extraordinarily bright flash of lightning blinded Soshi for a split second. Koujin moved in and punched Soshi hard with his right hand, which had taken the form of a giant claw, much like Soshi's own, only it glowed with a dark aura. Soshi took the attack head-on, but took off unfazed. He dove for Koujin, fangs and claws bared. The villain saw this coming, however, and swerved out of the way, calling down a beam from the Radiant Ruby above to strike Soshi. The dragon turned sharply in mid-air to avoid it, and spewed a steady stream of fire at the dark lord. Wherever Koujin tried to dodge, Soshi would aim right for him, all the while flying closer and closer. Throughout the attack, Soshi focused power into his wings, causing them to glow. Koujin landed on the roof and began calling down bolts from the three wands above. Soshi stopped his flame and dove straight for Koujin. The villain tried to dodge, but Soshi anticipated this, and turned sharply in mid-air, knocking Koujin in the stomach, full-force.

As he reeled, Soshi circled him, focusing for another attack. Suddenly, a bright yellow beam from below struck him and Soshi felt a surge of electricity course throughout his body. He fell to the ground and got to his feet, still feeling the effects of the blast. Soshi felt movement behind him and turned just in time to see Koujin brandish his sword and slice Soshi in the face. Koujin was aiming for the neck, but Soshi had turned, and instead taken the hit to the face. He stifled the cry of pain; he knew he had to keep fighting. Soshi dived at Koujin once more, kicking him in the chest as hard as he could. Koujin merely took a few steps back and raised his hand. Throughout all this, Koujin had been storing energy into what was now an enormous glowing orb high above the roof. Soshi tried to stop the evildoer from unleashing the attack by breathing another fireball at him. Soshi circled around and slammed himself into Koujin as hard as he could. It was like running into a brick wall. Koujin didn't move, but Soshi skidded to the ground with a groan.

As he looked up, Koujin was not laughing like the tortuous person Soshi had come to know him as. He was scowling. He was truly fighting, not just toying with Soshi. Soshi tried to make himself get up, before it was too late. Koujin, however, brought his hand down swiftly, and the giant orb of energy fell.

An explosion and power rocked the castle wall. As he took the blast, Soshi tried not to black out. He was flying through the air, but it felt like he was being crushed with the force of a million tons. He hit his head on the wall of the castle and fell in a crumpled heap on the stony ground. He saw his adversary protected in a green bubble. He had sustained no injuries from the explosion. Before he could get up, Koujin was on him and dug his claw with all his might into Soshi's limp body. Koujin ripped out his hand taking much of Soshi's skin with it. Soshi howled with pain as the blood began to pool around him. He tried to get up. To keep fighting. Somehow overcome the odds and win. Strengthened only by his will to live, Soshi slowly struggled to his feet. In a moment of blind rage, he broke off into a run at Koujin.

"Can't you see? You can't win! Give up now while you still have a life to protect!" Koujin growled.

"_Oh yeah?"_ Soshi thought. _"Just watch."_ The Shy Yoshi knew he had just one chance. Ignoring the pain as best he could, he flew up to the three wands creating the electrical barrier.

"What are you doing?! Impertinent fool!" Koujin floated up toward Soshi as fast he could.

Soshi reached for the nearest treasure to him: The Essence Emerald. As he grabbed it, a searing pain coursed through his body. But he held on and tried to claim it back. It seemed not to move from its point in the sky. His cry of pain echoed through the night air. After what seemed like an eternity, Soshi managed to break the spell and claim the Emerald. Koujin stared in shock. The electricity that resulted from Soshi touching the Emerald prevented Koujin from getting near without getting shocked himself. Soshi curled his mouth into a slight grin as blood continued to drip off his body. Koujin regained his composure and fired more blasts from his hand and Soshi, who countered with beams of his own from the Emerald. With each one, he thought of Kaller, how he risked his life for Soshi. It was time to return the favor.

Koujin roared. "You may have the Essence Emerald, but I still have two pieces of the treasure under my control. And unlike you, I'm powerful enough to kill you with them alone!" He called down repeated bolts from each of them, coupling the attack with his own. Soshi tried his best to fire back, but he knew he would be overwhelmed sooner or later. Worse, the pain in his back from the wounds Koujin gave him was beginning to be too much to bear.

"You can't dodge them forever, Sky Dragon!" Koujin yelled. Soshi knew it. He needed to gain the upper hand in this battle. Soshi had to keep fighting, against all odds. Just keep fighting…


	26. A Life to Protect

Chapter 24-A Life to Protect 

Rain mixed with blood on the stony castle exterior as Soshi continued his fierce fight. Koujin continued his assault as Soshi struggled to get off the defense. As Koujin brandished his blade once more, Soshi alighted on the deck, staring him down. As he lunged at the Sky Yoshi, the two treasures still looming above them threatened to fry Soshi with their magical blasts. Koujin slashed at Soshi's neck, but the latter used the staff of his Essence Emerald to block the strike. Soshi and Koujin were in a deadlock, neither giving so much as a millimeter. As the sparks from the two weapons flew, Soshi used his tail to knock Koujin off balance. When Koujin stumbled, Soshi blasted him with the Essence Emerald. Before he could get back up, Soshi whipped him in the head with his tail.

Koujin struggled to his feet. It was the first sign of weakness Soshi had ever seen from the villain. Soshi was on the offensive now, and he had to keep it that way. His entire back continued to throb with every heartbeat, but Soshi pushed through it. He spewed a flame directly at Koujin and used his Essence Emerald to augment the power with a beam. It hit Koujin directly, and Soshi could hear the fizzling of his cloak as it caught the fire. Koujin continued to call down the beams from the two treasures in the air to attack Soshi, who was finding it harder and harder to get away. He tried frantically to fire back, but even in his weakened state, Koujin was still very resilient. As Koujin brandished his sword once more, Soshi tried dive-bombing him from above. Koujin sidestepped the assault and caught Soshi's leg with his blade. Soshi skidded to a stop on the ground and fell to his knees, trying to get to his feet at Koujin approached him. With a grunt, he kicked the Sky Dragon hard in the ribs, knocking the air out of Soshi. Soshi tried to regain his breath, but he knew he needed time. Koujin reared back for another slash, but an explosion prevented this.

Soshi looked confused for a minute, but as the smoke cleared, Koujin was staring angrily out into the horizon.

"You! I thought I killed you back in that miserable cavern!" He spat.

"Not likely!" was the response. As Soshi turned around, he saw Kaller, injured but still smiling smugly, sailing toward the castle. His men aimed the cannon at Koujin for another shot. "And look who I brought with me!" Soshi looked and saw Toukee, from long ago on Isle Silver, along in another boat with an army of soldiers. "Fire!" Kaller gave the command and the cannon shot a missile at Koujin, which exploded on impact. Soshi took the time to blast Koujin with his wand. He didn't have the strength to try for the other two treasures.

"I'm coming up right now, Soshi, so you better not die before I get there!" Kaller snarled as he broke through the door to the castle. Toukee and his army soon followed.

"Enough games!" Koujin growled. Thunder and lightning crackled in the distance as Koujin's eyes glowed red. He began to glow with a red aura, and his sword had changed from an icy curved blade to a straight golden weapon. Before Soshi could react, Koujin dashed blindingly fast toward him, throwing Soshi against the wall. As he winced, Soshi dug his claws into his attacker. Blood began to ooze out of the wound and without letting go, Soshi sunk his jaws into Koujin's shoulder. The villain yelled in pain, but threw Soshi off, clutching his shoulder with one hand, his sword with the other. Meanwhile, Kaller barged through the door, brandishing his own sword. As he charged Koujin, the latter teleported away and Kaller was struck by a beam from above.

Kaller fell to his knees, cursing. "Rrr, learned some new tricks, has 'e?" Kaller looked around for his prey and found him slashing at Soshi with his blades. Kaller rushed over to help the Sky Dragon when he was pushed back by a wall of air.

"You stay out of this!" Koujin snarled.

"Soshi!" called a voice. Toukee was standing on the highest point on the roof, above them, holding a bow. "Take this!" Toukee fired a gleaming silver arrow straight at Koujin, who, preoccupied with Soshi, didn't notice Toukee. The arrow struck Koujin and vanished, leaving no trace. Koujin clutched his chest where he had been struck. He growled at Toukee, who had already pulled another arrow. Soshi used this distraction to kick Koujin, claws bared. Koujin, seeing how it was three against one, hovered into the air. He glowed a little, then unleashed a swarm of black shadows. Soshi recognized him immediately. They were the same creatures that took him while he was training with the Mushroom Army. He tried blasting them, Toukee tried firing at them, and Kaller tried slashing them with his sword. The numbers seemed endless, and the heroes couldn't fight Koujin with the distractions; even Toukee was attacked from his vantage point. Soshi knew his chances had just dropped. As he threw off the beasts' attempts to cling on to him, he knew he had just once chance left. One chance to live.


	27. The Greatest Tresure

Chapter 25-The Greatest Treasure 

"Toukee!" Soshi shouted. "Aim at those wands floating in the air!"

Toukee readied his bow, but the shadow creature onslaught prevented him from getting a shot off. Soshi flew toward the spire Toukee was standing on to hold them off. Meanwhile, Koujin growled and chased after him, but Kaller waved his sword in the villain's face.

"Oh no, you're going through me first." he declared. Kaller rushed at the Dark Lord, slashing past the swarm of dark creatures. Blade drawn, and with a bloodthirsty gleam in his eye, Koujin countered with a slash of his own. The two blades met with a violent clang and locked in place. As the two struggled for the upper hand, Soshi was keeping the area around Toukee clear from the small shadow creatures. He spewed fire, blasted them with his wand, whatever it took to keep them at bay. Toukee was lining up his bow with the floating treasures when he heard a scream; Koujin had defeated Kaller in the exchange. Kaller was on his back, but he got to his feet and dodged the piercing thrust of Koujin's sword. Toukee fired his bow, and missed his intended target. He was readying another arrow when a firework exploded on the ground below, knocking Koujin off his feet.

"You guys didn't forget about me, did you?" a figure said as he sailed toward the castle.

"Yoshi!" Soshi called to his friend as the green dinosaur gave a salute, then ordered his troops to fire again.

Toukee fired another arrow and this time hit the Radiant Ruby, which detached from its magical resting place in the sky and started tumbling to the sea below.

"Grab it, Kaller!" Soshi yelled.

"You'll die before I allow that to happen!" Koujin roared. With an incredible burst of speed unable to detect, he raced toward Kaller with his demonic claws outstretched. With a mighty swing, the Dark Lord tore through Kaller's flesh, tossing him like a rag doll to the side. Before Soshi could blink, Koujin was upon him and Toukee.

"And you!" Koujin glowered venomously. "You're the next to die! Your parents were pathetic, as are you!" Soshi barely avoided the lightning-quick attacks from Koujin's sword. Toukee was not so lucky, however, as Koujin blasted him with magical energy, leaving him limp but still conscious. He had to act now if he were to have a chance. Leaving Toukee behind, Soshi dove for the Ruby. Grabbing it in his hands, he could feel the power rushing towards him.

Yoshi had climbed to the top of the castle via a grappling hook while Koujin was distracted with Toukee, and now stared down the villain with a menacing grin. He was the freshest of all the fighters, and raced toward him with a flurry of kicks. Yoshi had no weapon of his own, and Koujin was having little trouble avoiding him. Meanwhile, Soshi blasted his two wands at the sole remaining treasure: The Sentient Sapphire. The magical power seemed to conduct like electricity, and Soshi could feel both its magic and his own as he tried to claim it. Koujin, seeing this, flew toward Soshi with his claws outstretched.

"Behind you!" Yoshi cried. The Dark Lord simultaneously slashed Soshi with his sword and struck him with his claws, ripping a fatal gash in the dragon's back. Koujin slashed at the dragon from all sides, tearing away at Soshi's skin. Yoshi knew there was nothing he could do for the dragon, but couldn't bear to watch.

But to Koujin's surprise, Soshi still stood before him. He was wrapped in white light. It seemed that under his own will alone, Soshi had survived, and was still holding onto the treasures.

"I finally understand this power." Soshi breathed. "It is the same power that helped me on Proartica. You will never understand it, Koujin. For it is the power of life!" Soshi yelled. And as if on his command, the Sapphire broke from its hanging spot and into Soshi's hands.

"NO!" Koujin cried. Before his eyes, the light shone brighter, and the Dark Lord could not approach. When the light faded, Soshi was no longer holding the three treasures. In their stead was a golden blade that shimmered steadily, even proudly, almost as if to say "I'm invincible".

Soshi continued "This power was given to me by those who have died for me. My father, and my mother. But the next one to die will not be me, Koujin. It will be you."

"I'm ready, Soshi." Yoshi added.

"Stay out of this, Yoshi!" The dinosaur backed down. "This is my fight. Not yours. One of us will die, and it's not going to be you."

"But I-"

"Just GO! And take Toukee and Kaller with you!" Soshi knew Koujin had no interest in any of them. They were just obstacles for the Dark Lord to get to him.

As Yoshi departed and left the two of them, Soshi concentrated on his promise. To his parents. To Peach. To Rena. And to all of Plit.


	28. Victory and Defeat

_Chapter 26-Victory and Defeat_

Soshi was alone. The only thing that stood before him was the dark, menacing creature that had stolen everything from him. Although he had survived Koujin's power up to this point, it had still left him none the better. He was covered in countless scrapes, cuts and bruises. Blood was oozing out of every crevice in his body, and the rain had long ago seeped into the core of his being. He was quite a pitiful sight, but in his eyes was nothing but sheer determination and perseverance.

He stared down his adversary. Koujin was not the all-powerful, invincible adversary he had once been. It was clear he was fighting at his hardest. Though not quite as bad as Soshi, Koujin was in the worst condition Soshi had ever seen him in. His cloak was ripped to shreds, he was bleeding from places Soshi couldn't see. The Dark Lord was visibly tired, taking short, even breaths, the long battle having taken its toll on even him. However, he would not rest until every drop of the Sky Dragon's blood spilled out.

As the lightning crackled and the rain continued to pour, the two adversaries seemed to radiate a power far above that of the elements around them. Soshi gripped his golden sword tightly, trusting in its power. It ended here. It had to end here. There could no longer be pain, torment, and death. Soshi let out a soft growl. Koujin would pay. Though he tried to stop himself, he could feel his thoughts becoming more primal. Reason left him first. Care for his own safety left him. One by one, his rational thoughts disappeared, until all that was left was rage. Koujin kept still, just watching the Sky Dragon. Despite his condition, Koujin had that same, evil gleam in his eye. He let Soshi boil in his own thoughts. He could already see it. Soshi was beginning to bubble over. The dragon would attack soon. And he would be ready.

At once, Soshi charged at Koujin with blinding speed. His blade drawn, he delivered a strike with power unbeknownst to him before. Koujin defended with his own sword. Their blades locked for only a split second before Soshi jumped back. He flew and dove with his sword at Koujin's head. The Dark Lord diverted the blow to the side and clawed a painful slash to Soshi's exposed side. However, Soshi barely felt the pain; his entire body had gone numb from blind fury. He sharply spun around, his blade pointed once more at Koujin. The golden light pierced through the darkness as Koujin hopped back to dodge. Soshi kept swinging, his sword quickly becoming a blur. Koujin kept on the defensive, looking for an opening. However, Soshi attacked swiftly, leaving no room for Koujin to even recover from one attack before another was upon him.

Soshi couldn't keep this up forever, and both he and Koujin knew it. In his desperation, he had attacked without thinking. Koujin was on the defensive now, but as soon as he stopped attacking, even for a split second, Koujin would take the opportunity to regain the upper hand. Even as he thought this, Soshi could feel it. Sheer fatigue was setting in. His strikes were becoming slower and sloppier. He had to fight, though. He could not give up.

Soshi suddenly felt his feet slip out from under him. He fell forward as he tripped, landing face-down and the stony castle roof. Koujin held his sword and delivered a slash to Soshi's side. Again, the pain meant nothing. Soshi quickly got up and with a look of pure malice in his eyes, charged Koujin once more. Koujin sidestepped the swipe and shot a blast of purple energy at Soshi. The dragon took the blast full-force, the magic enveloping him, shaking his entire body.

_"I…will not give up!"_ he thought to himself. He broke the spell, and to Koujin's surprise, he managed to cut him straight across the chest. The cut was not deep, but it was long. Soshi reared back and delivered another strike, crossing the first. Koujin fired another blast of energy, but Soshi's blade began glowing with a pure white light. The attack stunned Soshi for not the slightest bit of time before the Sky Dragon was upon him again. Wide-eyed at this newfound power, Koujin tried everything he could to block Soshi's relentless attack. With each swing, each attack, the blade glowed in intensity. Koujin's strikes, while doing physical damage to Soshi's body, did nothing to his mind at all. Soshi ha turned into a living zombie, unhurt by any attacks on his person, fueled by his rage and malice.

Soshi seemed to disappear and reappear right before Koujin's eyes. He was moving with blinding speed now, and attacking with blinding precision. Koujin could no longer predict his movements, but he could feel every attack. Each one was bringing him closer to death, and Soshi knew. Koujin could only stand there and watch as he was being ripped apart by Soshi's blade. Though the castle was stained a dark crimson from his blood, Soshi's blade remained as pure and white as ever. With a slash to the neck, Koujin fell, gripping his throat. He looked down. There, pierced through his chest, was Soshi's blade, gleaming white against his pure darkness. As he turned around, he saw Soshi, still gripping the handle. He stared, unblinking, not even breathing, only stared down at Koujin's crumpled figure with utmost hatred.

"You have lost." Soshi growled in a powerful, low voice. "Never again will you torment innocents. You are dead, forever to suffer in the depths of hell."

Koujin couldn't help but chuckle. A low, raspy chuckle that did not have a fraction of the evil once in him. "So what," he choked out. "You have won. I still succeeded in taking everything from you. What good is your life in this world? You are still remembered for the demon you are."

"You have not taken everything." Soshi said, no trace of emotion in his voice There is one who still lives. And that one is enough. As long as she continues to live, Plit will flourish. You, however, are dead, and I would rather die myself than to see you take another breath." He finished coldly. With a cry powerful enough to kill a man itself, Soshi pushed the blade deeper and twisted it; like a key to a lock that sealed Koujin's fate. White light exploded from Koujin's body, blinding Soshi, washing away all the evil that surrounded him. The clouds dissipated, the rain stopped, the flood receded, and the clear night sky returned. When Soshi's sight returned, he saw nothing but the castle, clean and polished stone staring at him, as though nothing had ever happened. No trace of battle, not a single drop of blood. Slowly, he fell to his knees, then to all fours, overwhelmed at the magnitude of what he had done, what he had accomplished. He had pulled it together. He had saved Plit.

With a mighty BOOM the castle roof door opened. Soshi barely noticed when multiple figures emerged. At once he looked up and was surrounded by the figures of Kaller, Yoshi, Toukee, and even Princess Peach and Sgt. Strobel.

Soshi's eyes widened. "You survived? How?" Kaller gave a short laugh. "Never underestimate the power of my crew, Soshi." He winked. Yoshi, and Sgt. Strobel sat down beside Yoshi, the latter wrapping an arm around him. "Are you all right?" she asked gingerly.

Soshi looked at her and smiled as though it were a joke. It was a sad, lonely smile. He looked down at his battered body. Even as he did so, he felt excruciating pain course through every fiber of his being. He had won, but Koujin's attacks were finally taking their toll. "No." he replied. "I'm dead." The smile remained on his face.

Sgt. Strobel's eyes widened. "No, you're not." She said quickly. "Kaller! Toukee! Go get help! The paramedics! The ER team! Anyone! Just go quickly!" She yelled frantically. As they left, she produced a small spray canister of sterilizing liquid and began spraying it on Soshi's wounds.

"It's no use." Soshi said, putting his hand on hers. "I'm already dead." He looked at Peach, then at the military officer. "Peach…and Rena-er, Sergeant. Strobel." He corrected himself. He looked at Yoshi who was silent and looked genuinely worried. "Yoshi. All of you…" he trailed off, before finding his voice again. "Rena, I…" he stopped. He couldn't say it. Not even now. "Thank you. All of you." He finished.

Yoshi wasn't convinced. "No." He echoed. "We'll take care of you. You'll be fine. Just hold on."

Sgt. Strobel nodded. "And if you're worried about not having anything to come back to, we can get you a position here, in the military. Why, with what you did, you'll be a captain in no time!" She laughed a dry, awkward laugh that seemed completely out of place.

Soshi smiled. He knew they were only trying to help, but you can never give help to someone who doesn't want it.

Kaller and Toukee returned with a handful of Toad paramedics. They tried to lift Soshi off the ground, but Soshi refused to budge. Everyone started to help, but Soshi refused to accept it. He only stared at each and every one of the faces around him. "Thank you." He repeated. He finally allowed himself to be carried down into the castle after he was sure it would be too late. As the shining walls of Peach's Castle whirred by him, he couldn't help but laugh to himself. He had accomplished the impossible, but this was the end. As he was carried out into the night sky once more, as he was being loaded onto the stretcher which was to be his deathbed, he looked again at his friends. "Thank you." He repeated once more. As he looked into the sky, he could swear he saw a smiling pair of dragons, one white and one red, looking down on him. He closed his eyes and smiled. He would soon see them again.


	29. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

_As soon as Soshi was admitted to the hospital, surgeons began working on repairing his wounds. They worked long past sunrise, and still his condition never improved. However, with their limited knowledge of the dragon's physiology, coupled with the dragon's wounds that were caused by the power of magic, Soshi slowly slipped away. He had not wanted anyone to mourn him yet so many did. He had lived as a scourge, and a terror to the people, but he died a hero to all of Plit. In secret, Soshi's closest friends, the ones who fought by his side, took his body to Isle Soshi, and threw his body into the bubbling volcano. It is said that a plume of smoke in the shape of the Sky Yoshi appeared before disappearing into the heavens._

_Shortly afterwards, Sgt. Strobel stepped down from her military position to pursue a quieter life. She could no longer cope with the death involved. Her icy heart had been thawed by the dragon. She missed him terribly._

_Kaller still sails the seas looking for adventure. He has taken an interest in magic, and now values any blessed treasure greatly. Whenever he acquires a new one, his mind flashes back to Soshi, which results in him being absorbed with thoughts for hours, even days at a time._

_Toukee continues his rule over Silver Isle, with only his military having a clue as to the events that transpired._

_Yoshi continues leading his life on Yoshi's Island. The others of his race never seem to tire of his story of Soshi and his bravery. The creature they once feared as a scourge suddenly became a hero, and a legend. This legend would be passed on for many generations, carrying out the Sky Dragon's legacy._

_Peach tries to forget everything that happened, and focuses on her domestic leadership. Still, she reminisces from time to time about Soshi, before quickly pushing the thoughts aside. It has not affected her leadership. She refused to let it._

_Isle Soshi remains abandoned to this day. Its volcano is dormant, no longer bearing the same threat it once did. Some plans were made to use the island as the site for a new village, but these plans were never carried out. The island remains abandoned as perhaps a tribute to Soshi and his valor. It is said, however, that if one were to sail by the island on a clear, starlit night, one would be able to hear, from the highest cave carved in the side of the volcano, the roar of a dragon as if triumphing over an unseen entity._


End file.
